Why focus on frozen embryos in fertility clinics?
Fertility treatments typically produce more embryos than are used. Today, there are about 400,000 frozen embryos in IVF clinics that will likely be destroyed. Allowing federally funded research on frozen embryos from IVF clinics would provide a much needed expansion of embryonic stem cell lines eligible for federally funded research and would do so in a way that avoids the President’s concern about creating new embryos for research purposes. Wouldn’t it be better to focus on adult stem cells? All stem cells are not alike. The prevailing view of scientists is that the potential of adult stem cells is much more limited than embryonic stem cells: adult stem cells have not demonstrated an ability to develop into all types of tissue. Moreover, adult stem cells are difficult to isolate and are present in only small quantities. While adult stem cells have been used successfully to treat some diseases, they are not a substitute for embryonic stem cells. Federal funds should be available for re
