Not in the Post Watch: Stem Cell Breakthrough

I posted a placenta-cell story on Aug. 9  after it came out at Reuters, but I bring it up again today as a good example of  coverage at the Post, which today runs Fetal Tissue Heals Burns, by David Brown on A2. Great news--now we can kill fetuses to save children!

An experimental therapy that uses skin cells grown from an aborted fetus successfully healed severe burns in eight children, sparing them the need for skin grafts, according to a study published today.

The treatment led to the regrowth of essentially normal skin on second- and third-degree burns in about two weeks, according to the report by a Swiss research team. The scarring and tissue contraction seen after many burns did not occur, and dressing changes were easier and less painful, the researchers said.

To repeat, the problem isn't in covering stories like that, it's in not covering stories like this:

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Scientists looking for easier and less-controversial alternatives to stem cells from human embryos said on Friday they found a potential source in placentas saved during childbirth.

They described primitive cells found in a part of the placenta called the amnion, which they coaxed into forming a variety of cell types and which look very similar to sought-after embryonic stem cells...

It is not yet certain that the cells they found are true stem cells, said Stephen Strom, who worked on the study. But they carry two important genes, called Oct 4 and nanog, which so far have only been seen on embryonic stem cells.

"We were just blown away when we found those two genes expressed in those cells," Strom said in a telephone interview.

"The presence of these two genes suggests these cells are pluripotent, which means they should be able to form any cell type in the body."...

It's not a conspiracy, it's a mindset.

According to the search engine,by the way, that story wasn't even covered by the Post's website feed.