adult stem cells strike again...

Another success story relayed by Chuck Colson's "Breakpoint" (hat tip: Linda Christiansen).

An event planner named Carron Morrow says she had two choices when it came to treating a serious heart condition: Sign liability papers for an unusual new treatment—or drop dead. Not surprisingly, she chose to sign the papers—and became another stem-cell miracle: An adult stem-cell miracle, that is.

Carron, a 58-year-old Alabama mother, was in bad shape last year after suffering four heart attacks. The right side of her heart was functioning at less than 50 percent. Carron needed a new heart—but 100,000 people were ahead of her on the transplant list.

In October, surgeons removed 500ccs of bone marrow from Carron's left hip. The cells were cultivated, and four hours later, 30 million stem cells were injected into the right side of Carron's heart.

Within two months, Carron relates, "I could sing a whole song at church," and was back at work. Four months later, she had another CT scan to see how her heart was functioning. The news could not have been more—well, heart-stopping.

As Carron put it: "The doctor calls and says, 'Ma'am, the right side of your heart is normal.' I was in la-la land for several days." The procedure cost just $600. Not a bad price for what amounts to a brand-new heart.

Meanwhile, the list of people being helped or cured by adult stem cell procedures has become almost too long to keep track of. Medical advances just in the last few months include using adult stem cells from bone marrow to create heart valves. They've been used to successfully treat children with juvenile diabetes, and patients with lupus, liver cancer, paralysis, and Parkinson's.

Why use subsidies for medical research-- especially (ethically) of something that so many people find morally repulsive, and especially (practically) in light of the success of adult stem cells?