00:00 This episode is about stem cells and their potential for treating diseases caused by cell death.

04:05 Stem cells have the potential to cure diseases by replacing lost cells, but the goal of stem cell therapy is to manipulate these cells to turn into helpful cells.

08:16 Stem cells can be used to treat diseases like leukemia by transplanting bone marrow that includes stem cells into another person.

12:39 Embryonic stem cells can be obtained from unused embryos from in vitro fertilization, but this method is controversial due to the destruction of the embryo.

16:47 Adult stem cells, unlike embryonic stem cells, are not controversial and can be found in bone marrow, where they have a more specialized job and can become specialized to help different organs in the body.

20:59 Scientists have discovered that zebrafish embryos require a "buddy cell" in order to become the type of stem cell that forms blood, bringing them one step closer to understanding hemopoietic stem cells.

25:25 Stem cells can be used for drug trials and potentially injected into the heart to repair damaged tissue, but there is still the issue of rejection to overcome.

29:58 In 1995, Congress put a ban on federal funding for any research that involved destroying embryos, which limited the creation of new stem cell lines, but there were ways to get around it, such as executive orders, and under the Bush administration, there was a push to find ways to start new stem cell lines without destroying embryos, leading to the development of induced pluripotent stem cells, and in 2005 and 2007, there were acts introduced to allow federal funding for research on new stem cell lines, but both were vetoed by Bush.

34:26 Federal funding for embryonic stem cell research is allowed under an executive order, but there are still restrictions on the use of federal funding.