Slide 38 of 63

The In May, 2004, shortly before her husband's death, Nancy Reagan spoke out in support of embryonic stem cell research as a cure for Alzheimer's disease. Unknown to her was the fact that among the challenging diseases of our time, Alzheimer's disease is probably the least likely to be cured through stem cell therapies. This is because the disease is characterized by a kind of pathology that spreads from abnormal brain cells to healthy ones. Even if stem cell therapy provided some positive therapeutic value, the disease would soon return, due to its progressive nature.