The Stem Cell

A huge month. A huuge month.

The Vatican tries to gets its arms around the human embryo. A New Jersey vote defeats stem cell funding. The California Institute for Regenerative Medicine struggles to exit the spotlight and enter the grants-making business: David Jensen explains. Thanks to James Thomson and Shinya Yamanaka, we welcome new arrivals to the stem cell family, joining a dewy colony of cloned monkey cells. Aww, cute. A private stem cell bank storing menstrual blood says the cells found there “demonstrate compelling promise to transform commercial therapies.” We’ll see about that. Geron, a leading embryonic stem cell company, reports in the Journal of Neuroimmunology that its embryonic stem cell line provokes only a minimal immune reaction in laboratory experiments. Hillary Clinton, in a moment of clarity, appoints Colorado Rep. Diana DeGette as a health adviser. Fred Thompson, in a fuliginous fugue, cites the widely discredited Prentice List of 73 Stem Cell Treatments. India finally issues its draft guidelines for stem cell research.