Sunday, July 26, 2009

The changing tide

For the longest time, any medical breakthrough achieved using adult stem cells are hardly ever reported in the mainstream media. If it does, it appears under the generic heading of "stem cells" carrying the ambiguity of whether it has employed embryonic stem cells or the adult stem cells..

Last week, I noticed for the first time, the phrase "adult stem cells" appear in Google News. Sure the news selection in Google News works 'randomly', sure these articles were not published in big-name newspapers, but there are some differences now:

1. The adjective "adult" appear alongside "stem cells" in the titles more frequently now. One doesn't have to scan to the last sentence in the opening paragraph to find out whether it's about embryonic or adult stem cell.

2. The article isn't ended off with a 'helpful' explanation of what adult stem cells are, and why they aren't as 'powerful' as embryonic stem cells.

Here are some latest articles about iPS stem cells being used in cardiac treatment.

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