The stem cells grew in the laboratory for six months without problems.

Irina Klimanskaya and her collaborators´discovery avoids the threat of contamination from live feeder cells and serum products derived from animals which have been used as growth mediums to date.

Scientists believe the use of human stem cells has enormous potential to cure serious diseases such as Parkinson"s Disease (from which the Pope suffers), Alzheimer"s, and diabetes.

However, practical implementation of ACT´s breakthrough may be delayed in the US by the religious fundamentalist position of President George W. Bush and his government, who are totally opposed to cloning, thus stem cell research, including for therapeutic purposes. Other countries with similar objections may also lag behind.

In February 2005 the UN arrived at a non-binding international agreement prohibiting all types of human cloning that are incompatible with "human dignity" and the protection of "human life."

However, a Belgian diplomat told Scientist after the vote that despite the clear intentions of the US and Costa Rica, the text is vague enough that countries that want to continue stem cell research should not feel impeded by it.

"It is indeed a weak text, quite ambiguous, which is open to interpretation. And that was the goal," he said. Seemingly, the door is still open to progressive scientists to build on the work of ACT and discover cures for many serious and life-threatening conditions.

By: Prensa-Latina