http://royalsociety.org/page.asp?id=1203

What I learned from the article

Stem cells may prove to be a cure for many of today’s most challenging diseases. Stem cells are capable of turning into any of the 300 types of cells that make up the adult human body. At some point in the near future stem cells may be able to replace damaged human tissue. Stem cells come from two places; they are either taken from "fertility treatments" or are taken from cloned human embryos. The cloned embryos are made specifically for stem cell research, these embryos can be made using very many different methods one method is "nuclear transfer". Nuclear transfer is when,” genetic material or DNA from a donor is inserted into an empty egg cell. After the resulting hybrid cell has been 'activated' (normally using an electrical pulse), it begins to divide, creating new cells and forming a cloned embryo."

Questions this article rose...
Why use stem cells from abortions when researchers could use stem cells from specially created clone embryos?
What other methods are there other than nuclear transfer?
How close are stem cell researchers to curing the diseases mentioned in the article?

Helpful definitions
Fertility Treatment
Embryo

http://stemcells.nih.gov/info/basics/

What i learned from the article

Stem cells have the capability to grow into any cell we want them to. Stem cells continually divide and can continue to do so until the targeted damaged cell is back to full strength. Stem cells can act as any cell in the body, and if used correctly may become a cure for many of today's mutations and diseases. This article taught me some of the capabilities of stem cells and ways we can put them to work.

Questions this article raised...
What are the other potential uses of stem cells?
When will stem cell treatments become widely available?
Why are stem cells not in use today?
Where exactly do they come from?
What proof do they have that stem cells will work in adult humans?