Vatican adult stem cell conference gets underway

(Vatican Radio) “Regenerative Medicine: Fundamental Shifts in Science and Culture is the title of an International Conference on adult stem cell research which got underway Thursday morning in the Vatican.

The event is being hosted by the Pontifical Council for Culture, STOQ International, together with NeoStem and the Stem for Life Foundation,

One of the key aims of the conference, which brings together politicians, medical researchers and students, is to advance the mission to educate the world on the power and promise of adult stem cell therapies.

Speaking at the gathering on Friday will be dr. John Gurdon, who, together with dr. Shinya Yamanaka, won the 2012 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for demonstrating that they could revert skin back to an embryonic-like stem cell state.

Speaking ahead of the gathering Dr Robin Smith President of the Stem for Life Foundation told Lydia O’Kane that the conference is about understanding “the progress that we’re making in adult stem cell research in areas like cardiovascular disease, MS, traumatic brain injury, just to name a few”.

She adds, it is also going to be a magnificent event because we are also “going to see patients, patients who have been lucky enough to be in the therapy group of these adult stem cell trials and walking around today talking about how it has transformed their life.”

The conference runs from the 11th to the 13th April in the Vatican’s new Synod Hall. Listen to Lydia O’Kane’s interview with Dr Robin Smith