Federal granted money for research with embryonic stem cells pays off. While in its first year of using state funds which support embryonic stem cell research, the University of Connecticut Health Center has already showed results.

Dr. David W. Rowe, as one of the beneficiaries of a $100 million state funding program, conducted an experiment in his laboratory at UConn Health Center in which he used stem cells from adult mice to repair severely damaged cells in a mouse. He used these embryonic stem cells on a mouse that previously had its tibia removed in order to simulate a severe injury that normally would require amputation. After a period, the mouse’s leg had recovered and had fully grown back. The technology of using stem cells to develop any type of body tissue in the case of mice and in the future very possibly in the case of humans as well requires the destruction of embryos.

While embryonic stem cell research is supported by federal grants in the case of experiments on mice, in the case of human embryos this doesn’t apply due to the intrusiveness of this technology.

Scientists are preoccupied with extending the results of embryonic stem cell research on mice to humans. They believe that this technology may be the answer for treating diseases like Alzheimer’s and cancer.

Researchers are keen to find solutions to calm down the religious and political debate over the moral issue in using human embryos to create stem cells to repair damaged cells in humans. In this regard, last week, two teams of scientists, from Japan and Wisconsin, reported that they succeeded in turning human skin cells into embryonic stem cells. Although this method creates human embryonic stem cells without having to make or destroy a human embryo, scientists emphasized that it needs to be perfected.

More scientists from other Health Centers submitted requests for federal funds for stem cell research because they believe “this program is going to have a huge impact, and already has, actually,” as Dr. Michael Snyder, a biology professor at Yale who also received the largest single grant, $3.8 million, in this matter, said.