Stem cells beat kidney rejection

Article
This article discusses a new use of stem cells being tested in Islamabad. I'm pretty sure all of you know what an organ transplant is, but some of you might not know that if the organ doesn't come from a close family member (and sometimes even if it is), it can cause serious complications, most notably the recipient of an organ's immune system recognizing the organ as an "attacker" and attacking the transplanted organ. There are special drugs that recipients of those transplants must take that repress their immune systems, but they have serious complications and would have to be taken every day for the rest of their lives. A new strategy to combat that without medication that is being tested is a few days after the transplant, injecting a small amount of stem cells into the area, in hopes to generate a modified immune system that won't reject the organs. So far, the results have been phenomenal. From the article, "Although the patients started off with the same anti-rejection drugs, the aim was to reduce these slowly, hopefully withdrawing them completely over time. Five out of the eight patients involved in the trial managed to do this within a year." 47-year-old Lindsay Porter, from Chicago, a recipient of the treatment said: "I hear about the challenges recipients have to face with their medications and it is significant. It’s almost surreal when I think about it because I feel so healthy and normal." If this proves to have long-term effectiveness, it could be a huge breakthrough in medical science.

Curious

In this video, the reporters detail the newest genetic research being conducted in Iran--documenting pieces of a conference about stem cell research. This seems normal enough, but it makes me wonder a bit--nowhere in the video do they mention any sort of controversy over this study. I know that here in the U.S., we've made a big stink about stem cell research in terms of the values of human life and even stretching into the debates over abortion--but is that problem just as prevalent in other countries, such as Iran? Our government and press have always been nagged about stem cell research, to the point where, in 2009, president Obama made a public announcement about the research ban. If we are making such a huge deal over this potentially life-saving research here, what about other countries with other religions and creeds?
-
On many other videos about stem cell research, there have been comments that openly bash all religion as a rule--claiming that, if we didn't have religion, then we could move forward in science. While this may or may not be true on some level, I have to question if religion is really the source of the madness. Perhaps we should look at other, outside sources for examples before we become so quick to accuse.