Are there still laws in place that prohibit research using stem cells? That might not help
- Austria, Denmark, France, Germany, Portugal and Ireland do not allow the production of embryonic stem cell lines
- The creation of embryonic stem cell lines is permitted in Finland, Greece, the Netherlands, Sweden, and the United Kingdom
- Arkansas, Indiana, Louisiana, North Dakota and South Dakota have passed laws to "prohibit the creation or destruction of human embryos for medical research"
- China has one of the most permissive human embryonic stem cell policies in the world. In the absence of a public controversy, human embryo stem cell research is supported by policies that allow the use of human embryos and therapeutic cloning.
- The Catholic Church opposes human embryonic stem cell research calling it "an absolutely unacceptable act." The Church supports research that involves stem cells from adult tissues and the umbilical cord, as it "involves no harm to human beings at any state of development."
- Islamic scholars generally favor the stance that scientific research and development of stem cells is allowed as long as it benefits society while causing the least amount of harm to the subjects.
Miqu 70B Q4_K_M writes
Embryonic stem cells are one of the main sources, but not the only ones. Embryonic stem cells are derived from embryos that are 3-5 days old. These cells have the ability to develop into all cell types in the body. However, due to ethical concerns and the limited availability of human embryos, researchers have also developed methods to create induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs). iPSCs are adult cells that have been reprogrammed to behave like an embryonic stem cell. They can be generated directly from adult tissues, such as skin or blood cells. Another source of stem cells is the umbilical cord blood and tissue, which is rich in hematopoietic stem cells. Adult (or somatic) stem cells are also present in various tissues in our body, such as bone marrow and fat.
and here is a wiki and non-wiki source I found on iPSCs just in case the LLM made up an acronym. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Induced_pluripotent_stem_cell
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3347549/#:~:tex....
(this is how I do most of my queries these days)
I worked in a few labs that did stem cell work and we got really attached to some of them. Like, "here's a microbrain I've been growing for 3 months", you start to empathize with them a bit.
As far as I know there is no treatment, or even research that requires those cells vs adult ones. It also helps that there are embryonic cell lines available commercially, with no restrictions (in the US), for those who want to specifically study them and not adult ones.
So to answer your question: No, the laws are not harming anything.