Sam Brownback: “The number of areas of treatment for human ailments or medical conditions in humans using human embryonic stem cells is…”

“The number of areas of treatment for human ailments or medical conditions in humans using human embryonic stem cells is zero. So the notion that delaying this Castle-Specter bill is going to hurt current patients is completely false. If we want to help current patients, the key--the key--is to put more research into adult and cord blood stem cell research. If you want to help current patients, you should be ever so careful not to promise impossibilities to these hurting individuals; you should state what the scientists are telling us, that the possibility of embryonic stem cells yielding cures, if ever--and I really doubt if it ever happens--is decades away. And we have had problems in the past with these types or cells forming dangerous and cancerous tissues--a problem which has not yet been worked out. If we want cures, let's go the route where we know we are going to reach our destination, and where we know treatment is true possibility. Mr. President, I yield the floor. Exhibit 1 [From the Washington Post, July 28, 2005] Scientists Claim To Find Cells That Restore Egg Production (By Rob Stein) A team of Harvard scientists is claiming the discovery of a reservoir of cells that appear capable of replenishing the ovaries of sterilized mice, possibly providing new ways to help infertile women have babies.…”