Scientists open stem-cell conference at Vatican

Rome, Sep. 14 (CWNews.com) - An international conference on the medical prospects for stem-cell research opened in Rome this week, co-sponsored by the Pontifical Academy for Life, the Lejeune Foundation, and the World Federation of Catholic Medical Associations.

The goal of the conference is to examine the realistic prospects for medical treatments arising from stem-cell research, and to distinguish between the therapeutic potential of stem cell drawn from adult and embryonic tissues. The conference participants will explore the possibilities of obtaining "pluripotent" cells, which can be used in many different medical applications, without destroying human embryos.

In an opening session, Professor James Sherley of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology said that public debate on stem-cell research has been marred by inaccurate information about the nature of the studies. He highlighted, for example, the assertion that embryos in the early stages of formation are not scientifically classified as human beings. "Of course they are human beings; what else could they be?" he said.

The conference, including experts from the fields of medical and biological research as well as ethicists and legal scholars, will conclude on September 16. Participants will meet with Pope Benedict XVI in a private audience-- a somewhat unusual gesture during this pontificate, since Pope Benedict has cut down severely on the number of such meetings.

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