Development Biologist Says He Hopes to Bring Stem Cell Research to Public Vatican City, April 12, 2013 (Zenit.org) Ann Schneible | 378 hits
In order for adult stem cell research and therapy to progress, says Nobel Prize winner Dr. John Gurdon, it is essential to promote awareness and understanding of this complex science.
Dr. Gurdon was one of the keynote speakers of today's session of the Second International Vatican Adult Stem Cell Conference, hosted in Paul VI Hall.
The conference aims to promote awareness of advances made in adult stem cell research and therapy,by providing a forum whereby leaders within this scientific field can share ideas and engage in dialogue.With this objective, the conference organizers have brought together experts in various fields, Catholic and non-Catholic, scientists, medical practitioners, bioethicists, politicians, and journalists. Because the primary objective of the conference is to examine adult stem cell research comprehensively, participants Dr. Gurdon among them hail from a variety of religious, ethical and moral viewpoints, including some which do not align with Catholic Church teaching.
A developmental biologist who works in Cambridge, England, Dr. Gurdon won the 2012 Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine for the discovery that adult cells can be turned into embryonic-like stem cells.This discovery is foundational for exploration in adult stem cell research and its therapeutic benefits.
The Nobel Prize winner sat down with ZENIT to speak about the importance of bringing this research to the general public.
ZENIT: What have been your impressions of this gathering thus far?
Gurdon: What I've benefitted a lot from this meeting is to hear where things are at the clinical end. I have no clinical connections in my work, though I'm very keen to know where different people are in their attempts to bring this kind of work to the patient.
ZENIT: Why is it significant that a conference on this topic is taking place through the incentive of the Vatican?
Gurdon: I'm what you might call liberal minded. I'm not a Roman Catholic. I'm a Christian, of the Church of England. And I don't agree with some of the rules that the Roman Catholics have. But that's why it's very interesting for me to meet people here to tell me why they have the various rules they do. And I've never seen the Vatican before, so that's a new experience, and I'm grateful for it.
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Nobel Prize Winner Participates at Vatican Conference