Conference talks stem cells

Published:Wednesday, May 1, 2013

Updated:Wednesday, May 1, 2013 01:05

Photo courtesy of Kristin Springer

Students and faculty traveled from Notre Dame to Vatican City for the Second International Vatican Adult Stem Cell Conference, called Regenerative Medicine: A Fundamental Shift in Science and Culture.

Notre Dame students and faculty traveled to Vatican City to participate in the Second International Vatican Adult Stem Cell Conference, a three-day event for a select group of medical experts, ethicists, students and financial analysts which ran from April 11-13.

The conference, titled Regenerative Medicine: A Fundamental Shift in Science and Culture, was intended to promote awareness of adult stem cell research and its potential and implications for the future of medicine.

Juniors Rebecca Marton and Kristin Springer and senior Margaret Kennedy attended the event with professor of biological sciences David Hyde and program of liberal studies professor emeritus Phillip Sloan.

Marton and Springer, both biology majors, work with Hyde in the Center for Zebrafish Research, while Kennedy, a double major in philosophy and accounting, works Notre Dames Center for Ethics and Culture.

The conference was not only scientific, but at least for one of the days it addressed the ethical issues of stem cell research, Marton said.

Marton explained that one of the conferences chief goals was to discuss and raise awareness of the distinction between embryonic and adult stem cell research. While embryonic stem cells are taken from human embryos, adult stem cells can be extracted from the very patients needing therapy, meaning the ethical issues regarding destruction of embryos are not a concern.

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Conference talks stem cells