Joy Kong, MD, addresses why people distrust stem cells. She clarifies that embryonic stem cell research doesn't destroy embryos, and that George W. Bush restricted federal funding rather than banning it outright. Adult stem cells and other types continue to be used.
Why are stem cells met with so much skepticism? Why are people so skeptical about them? And how would you respond to the critics?
I think there's a few layers to this. One is that there's some kind of misconception, I think, coming from, especially in this country, with the concern about abortion, the ethical issues about the baby, you know, that someone thinks that life is harmed by harnessing stem cells. When you use embryonic stem cells, that does entail the destruction of an embryo. So George W. Bush banned federal funding for embryonic stem cell research. It's not like he banned embryonic stem cell research. He just said, you're no longer going to get federal funding. But all of a sudden, people equate that with the banning of stem cells. And there are still all these other types of stem cells. So we're using adult.
