I've been reading the bulletin board and Jake brought up the subject of stem cell research. I don't want to debate right or wrong, what I want to know is how promising is this stem cell research to HD? My mom has HD. Does this mean there is tangable hope for a cure? How Soon? Can the research be just as beneficial with adult tissue as with the (controversial) embryos? I've heard some say yes & some say no. Who do I believe.

Jane, I'm not "in-the-know", but I too am interested in the answers.

Here's a quote from an Israeli researcher which addresses Jane's second question.: "Embryonic stem cells have advantages over stem cells derived from adult tissues," Dr. Gepstein points out. "They can proliferate far more than can stem cells from adults, producing far more descendant cells. This is important, because many millions of cells are needed to repair organs. In addition, we know that embryonic stem cells can differentiate into all the tissues of the body, while a given type of adult stem cell seems to differentiate into only a small set of tissue types."

Jane,
Below is a link to NIH (National Institute of Health). It contains alot of information about different types of stem cells, research guidelines, etc. It should answer a lot of the questions you have.
[www.nih.gov]

Dee