Pope encourages ethical adult stem cell research

POPE BENEDICT XVI has encouraged medical experts to search for heart treatments using adult stem cells rather than embryos.
A group of scientists, many of them doctors, attended Wednesday's general audience in the Vatican's Paul VI Hall.
They were in Rome for an international conference dedicated to adult stem cell research, organised by the University of Rome, La Sapienza. The Pope said he approved of developing therapies with adult stem cells. "The dignity of the human person is respected" in such research, said the Pope, because embryos are not harmed. "Scientific investigation should be justly encouraged and promoted, on the condition that it is not in detriment to other human beings," he said.