While there may be an ethical debate and controversy regarding the creation of stem cells, there is no question on the benefits people with life-threatening conditions can derive from it.
Photo: BWJones
For the last 30 years, researchers have developed more effective treatments for cancer which lowered the death rate for some common cancer. But the survival rate for patients with advanced cancers has not changed significantly. It is for this reason that stem cells research is being done by a number of research institutions to develop new stem cell-based therapies for cancer patients, which can revolutionize the way physicians treat cancer. Stem cells have the ability to differentiate into diverse specialized cell types and self-renew to produce more stem cells.
But research institutions need not do it alone. The STEMCELL Technologies, Inc, a privately-owned biotechnology company, can help them develop specialty cell culture media and provide them with cell separation products and ancillary reagents for life science research. By working together with the scientists, it would be easier to make progress in developing effective treatments which will directly target the so-called cancer stem cells.
