Proven cures for blindness using adult stem cells are already available, says a noted advocate for the blind. But these cures are being held back by politics and the use of stem cells as a wedge issue in election campaigns, she says. Helen J. Harris, founder and president of RP International in Los Angeles, says that even though the main controversy revolves around ethical use of embryonic stem cells, politics has infected the entire scientific field and has had a chilling effect on adult stem cell applications as well
