Italian researchers have succeeded in growing adult stem cells, a long-awaited alternative to embryonic ones.
The cells were taken from miscarried foetuses and grown in the lab, said the project leader at the Stem Cell Foundation in the central Italian city of Terni, Angelo Vescovi.
Vescovi said his team was waiting for an OK from Italian or US authorities to start clinical trials on patients suffering from the killer nerve disease called Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis, or Lou Gehrig's Disease.
A certificate of safety should arrive ''in the next few months,'' Vescovi said.
Vescovi's one-million-euro project was 80% funded by the Italian Catholic Church, which has looked with favour on efforts to find an alternative to research on embryonic cells.
The Church is against such research because it considers foetuses human beings, from the moment of conception.
Reseachers into so-called adult stem cells have claimed they have the same potential as embryonic ones.
Embryonic cell researchers have voiced skepticism about the claims.
