Interesting article Zar,
Keep in mind however that there are three broad types of human stem cells that are being researched/tested/used. Embryonic, Cord Blood, and Adult.
The article you posted is about embryonic stem cell research, which while considered the most promising long term, has some so far insurmountable problems. Specifically, they can't figure out how to turn off the "Grow" command on the cells resulting in uncontrolled growth...i.e. tumors.
The thinking on Embryonic stem cells is that 20-30 years from now they will be getting some fantastic results, but that is a long way off.
The Cord Blood and Adult stem cells are the two types of treatments yielding real results, right now.
I added human into the first sentence because there has also been some considerable success with Chimeric Stem Cell treatments. Chimeric treatment uses stem cells from animals rather than humans. This is possible because stem cells are a "primitive" form of cell compared to adult cells. Stem cells removed from an animal that is biologically closer to human, such as a pig or sheep, can be used to treat humans.
As an example insulin to treat diabetes was originally harvested from sheep, and heart valves used in transplants are often harvested from pigs. Insulin is produced synthetically now, but pig valves are still used in transplant operations to replace faulty heart valves in humans.
The major down side to Chimeric treatments, is that the stem cells, heart valves, etc., only last for what would be the animals normal overall lifespan. A pig valve put into a human heart is expected to only work properly for 10 years or so, perhaps a little longer. Which is only a fraction of the normal human lifespan.
Adult stem cell therapy uses your own stem cells harvested, extended, and infused back into your body. No issues of compatibility, rejection, or anything else of that nature. Again long term success is not quantified, since it is such new therapy and many if not most of the people receiving it are elderly.
However since the regenerative powers of your cells gets weaker as you get older, this treatment option is not considered as strong or powerful by the research community. Although it is the option with absolutely no known side effects.
Cord Blood stem cell therapy is the middle ground between the Embryonic and Adult stem cells. Cord blood cells are harvested from the the Embryonic cord and other tissue normally discarded after the birth of a child. Currently it appears to be the most effective treatment option for now. It is much stronger than the adult stem cell treatment, but not uncontrollable like the embryonic. So far it has had very good results.
The biggest obstacle to any of this for people in the United States, is getting FDA approval for any of the treatments. Currently you have to go outside the country for any of these treatments unless it is part of one of the scarce clinical trials.
