Use of stem cells: Heart disease, Type 1 diabetes, Parkinson's disease, Alzheimer's disease, macular degeneration, birth defects, spinal injuries, treatment of burns and drug trials. However, the removal of stem cells normally results in the destruction of embryos and some people believe that it is murder. Use of umbilical cord stem cells overcomes these issues but these are multipotent, not pluripotent like embryonic stem cells, so restrict usefulness.