Vatican Supports Adult Stem Cell Research

The Vatican has announced its support of researchers at the University of Maryland School of Medicine, who are exploring the use of adult intestinal stem cells for therapeutic use. An announcement by the university puts the church’s contribution at $2.7 million, although the church says that the final amount is still under negotiation. The church will be helping to establish the International Intestinal Stem Cell Consortium, which will begin its research in Rome. The research will use cells from adult intestines, obtained via endoscopy.

Intestinal cells are a good source of stem cells because they regenerate rapidly, replenishing all of its cells every few days, and they are already programmed to generate the wide variety of cell types found in the intestine.

The Catholic Church has historically objected to the use of embryonic stem cells because they require the destruction of embryos, which goes against the church’s teaching that life begins at conception.

Many scientists argue that adult stem cells are less versatile than embryonic stem cells and that they have trouble growing adult stem cells in the lab. Researchers involved in the project state that the intestinal stem cell research is in its preliminary stages and will require two to three years to evaluate its viability for medical treatments.