EDITOR,

President Obama issued an executive order easing limits on federal funding for embryonic stem cell research. This move was hailed as a great leap forward in science. But anyone with any knowledge about this field knows that embryonic stem cell research is a dead-end street. 

Not only does it have grave moral implications in destroying human embryos, it is completely obsolete. Check the facts for yourself. While these cells can do amazing things in the petri dish, all the research that has gone on for 40 years has not produced a single cure in real life — only tumors.   

The really exciting news is that adult stem cells taken from a person’s own bone marrow has benefited and even cured people with 74 different conditions. Check it out. Anytime you hear of a true breakthrough with stem cells, adult stem cells have been used. Hearts, brains, spinal cords and pancreases are being regenerated. This is just for starters. It is truly wonderful what is happening. 

Scientists have even discovered a natural product that enhances your own stem cells to be more efficient in regenerating any part of your body that needs healing, from your head to your toes. So we don’t need to wait many years for embryonic cells or pay thousands of dollars going to another country for them. The benefit is here and now. 

Joanne Swanner, Tracy