Just last month, Lancet, the prestigious British medical journal that favors embryonic stem cell research, called headlines touting its potential cures "sensationalist" and "hype."

"No safe and effective [embryonic] stem cell therapy will be widely available for at least a decade, and possibly longer," Lancet said.

Last year, embryonic stem cell research advocate Ron Reagan admitted that the science probably won't do anything to help those suffering from the disease that killed his father, telling MSNBC: "Alzheimer's is a disease, ironically, that probably won't be amenable to treatment through stem cell therapies."

In fact, since 1998, when researchers at the University of Wisconsin discovered how to isolate and develop human embryonic stem cells, no human disease or condition has been successfully treated with them.

Adult stem cell research, on the other hand, is already being used to safely and effectively treat more than 60 conditions.

The progress that the human clinical trials using adult stem cells represents is "unbelievably significant," Dr. Alan Levine told the Boston Globe last month. Levine is the former director of the blood disease program of the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute at the National Institutes of Health.

Still, most media "seem to downplay these successes," complains quadriplegic stem cell science expert Jean Swenson, "while elevating embryonic stem cell cure 'potential.'"

Just last week, for instance, Israeli scientists announced a breakthrough in the development of adult stem cell therapeutics for neurodegenerative diseases. Working at Tel Aviv University, the team used adult stem cells to produce glial derived neurotrophic factor (GDNF).

Acccording to Business Wire, which first reported the development, GDNF-producing cells hold great promise for treatment of Parkinson's disease.

Similarly, Frist and his merry band of embryonic stem cell research advocates ignored a major breakthrough earlier this year at Australia's Griffith University.

The results of the four-year Griffith research project showed that olfactory stem cells can be turned into heart cells, brain cells, nerve cells � indeed, almost any kind of cell in the body � without the problems of rejection or tumors forming, a common side effect with embryonic stem cells.

"Our experiments have shown adult stem cells isolated from the olfactory mucosa have the ability to develop into many different cell types if they are given the right chemical or cellular environment," research team leader Alan Mackay-Sim told the Australian newspaper.

Mackay-Sim's team managed to grow nerve cells, glial cells, liver cells, heart cells and muscle cells from cells harvested from the human nose.

Brisbane neurologist Peter Silburn, a member of Australia's National Health and Medical Research Council, said the fact that researchers have been able to take adult stem cells from patients with Parkinson's disease and turn them into neurons shows great promise.

"We can now learn about the condition in ways we never could before," Silburn told the Australian.

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