Ask a meaningful question and you will get an informative answer. Earlier this month results of a Harris poll reported 73% support for embryonic stem cell research when it was described as “using embryos left over from in vitro fertilization.” Now the results of polls done by International Communications Research and Wilson Research Strategies both report that a majority of Americans do not support government funding of embryonic stem cell research. When given a choice between funding all stem cell research or only adult stem cell research, both polls show greater than 60% support (61% and 74%) for government funding of only adult stem cell research. Both polls also reflect serious concerns about use of human cloning as a means to perform research (so-called therapeutic cloning). Opposition to such cloning was 69% in one poll and 80% in the other poll. Apparently, the media cover-up of adult stem cell research is not working.

Two medical journals are reporting advances in stem cell research using adult stem cells, including a case where rheumatoid arthritis was apparently cured. In the August 2004 issue of Arthritis and Rheumatism, the case of a 52-year old woman who had rheumatoid arthritis in 28 joints was treated with stem cells from a sibling. While drugs were used to help her body accept the new cells, she no longer needed medication for her disease within a year of the transplantation. In fact, her morning stiffness stopped occurring while she was still in the hospital and never returned. Researchers at Northwestern University of Chicago concluded that the procedure “may be performed safely, … and results in ... marked resolution of the disease manifestations of rheumatoid arthritis.”

The journal Cell has published results of a study that found that cells in hair follicles in the skin have properties similar to stem cells — namely the ability to create new cells of different types of tissue. Researchers at Rockefeller University have found that certain cells in the skin of mice have the ability to improve wound healing and reverse hair loss — showing potential to become treatments for burns and hair loss. These two reports are just the latest examples of successes using adult stem cells.