Pacific Rim Bureau (CNSNews.com) - The publication of U.S. research highlighting the evidently massive potential of "adult" stem cells has breathed new life into an ethical debate in Australia, just days before the introduction of legislation that would allow destructive research on human embryos.

Ethics and pro-life campaigners Friday welcomed the research, which has prompted some government lawmakers to renew efforts for a total ban on research that destroys embryos.

The new data may also re-ignite the debate in the United States, where the Senate is considering whether to allow the cloning of human embryos for research purposes.

Many scientists and bio-technology engineers believe stem cells harvested from embryos - which are destroyed in the process - will one day help treat diseases such as diabetes and Parkinson's.

Pro-lifers have long argued that adult stem cells, from sources such as umbilical cords or bone marrow, offer an ethical alternative, and they point to a growing stack of evidence of their efficacy.

The latest study comes from the University of Minnesota, where researchers have found that adult stem cells from bone marrow can turn into virtually every single tissue in the body, from muscle to nerve to blood.

The study, published Thursday in the journal "Nature," suggests that these multipotent adult progenitor cells (MAPC) found in the bone marrow of rats and could be just as versatile as those from embryos - a point long disputed by proponents of embryonic research.

Moreover, Prof. Catherine Verfaillie said she and her colleagues had not found any evidence so far that the adult cells could grow into tumors, which is a concern with embryonic stem cells.

News of Thursday's report, which confirmed findings first reported last January, prompted some scientists in Australia and Britain to caution that this shouldn't mean research on embryos should stop. Rather, work should continue on both types of cells, they said.

Conscience vote

In Australia, the debate over stem cell research has pitted religious, ethics and pro-life campaigners against an influential and successful biotechnology industry.

After weeks of lobbying from both sides, and under pressure from state governments that threatened to defy any federal ban, Prime Minister John Howard in early April decided to allow research on embryos, which as of that date had already been created during in-vitro fertilization (IVF) treatment.

The decision was followed in late May by an allocation of $24.6 million in federal funding to a new center for stem cell research, headed by a top scientist who supports research on human embryos, including embryos cloned in a lab.

Legislation allowing the research is due to be introduced in the federal parliament next week, with the major parties having agreed to allow their members a conscience vote.

A petition is now circulating among lawmakers in the Liberal Party-led coalition urging members to vote for a total ban.

On opponent, Liberal lawmaker Chris Pyne said the U.S. research showed you could have "good science without dubious experimentation on embryos."

At least three cabinet ministers have indicated support for a ban.

Armed with the University of Minnesota study, Australian opponents of embryonic stem cell research Friday called variously for lawmakers to vote in favor of a total ban, or for the legislation to be deferred pending the ongoing research into adult cells.

"These fantastic findings indicate that adult stem cells are as versatile as embryo stem cells and that, unlike embryo stem cells, they will not cause cancer," said Dr. Amin Abboud, director of Australasian Bioethics Information.

Abboud, who lectures in medical ethics at a Sydney university, said the study showed that "we can use the resources of the human body to cure itself without having to kill embryos."

Abboud also accused embryonic stem cell advocates of keeping "under wraps" the propensity of embryonic cells to produce cancerous tumors called teratomas.

Research at the Harvard Medical School published last January suggested that embryonic stem cells from rats could change into cells that produce dopamine, a chemical needed by Parkinson's patients.

But in 20 percent of the rats used in the experiment, the cells reportedly instead formed a teratoma. In humans, such a result would be devastating, according to experts, as many teratomas are inoperable.

Profit agenda

Another group that has lobbied against embryonic research is the Australian Family Association.

AFA national vice president Bill Muehlenberg said Friday many of those advocating the controversial research were motivated by the promise of financial gain.

"Science has given way to other agendas of Big Biotech, and many political leaders are being duped in the process," he said.

"It is time for real science to set the agenda, not the profit-driven motives of Big Biotech and the pharmaceuticals."

Both Muehlenberg and Abboud argued that while the ability of adult stem cells to treat diseases was repeatedly being tested and proven, the potential of embryonic cells to do likewise remained unknown.

The AFA sees the way the debate has gone in Australia as a sign of the decline of ethics in Western societies.

"When we fought the battle on IVF two decades ago, we warned that this was the thin edge of the wedge," Muehlenberg said. "It seems that we have not seen the last of the moral erosion enfolding before our eyes."