AURORA, Colo. -- Imagine a cure for cancer.

Scientists at University of Colorado's Denver School of Medicine are imagining the possibilities.

“I think as a scientist it’s the most exciting time in science that I’ve seen in my career,” said Dr. Dennis Roop, renowned scientist in the Charles C. Gates regenerative medicine stem cell program.

Dr. Roop’s excitement is directly related to President Barack Obama’s indication that he will lift President George W. Bush’s ban on the use of federal funding for human embryonic stem cell research.

And Dr. Roop said those who might benefit most from increased funding are cancer patients.

“Which patient population will actually be the first to benefit? I tell people it’s actually cancer patients,” said Roop.

Technicians in Roop’s lab have found that cancers themselves are actually maintained by a stem cell population. So, they are working on ways to kill the cancer stem cells without harming normal stem cells.

Researcher Dr. Kazutoshi Murao has been working with a hairless mouse that has a human cancerous tumor. Dr. Murao says the cancerous stem cells in the tumor represent less than one percent of the total mass of the tumor.

“Many of the traditional therapies that we use to treat cancer, treat the bulk of the cancer, but not the stem cell,” said Dr. Roop.

Targeting the cancerous stem cells is the key according to scientists. “Which would lead us to generate more efficient and safer treatment for cancer patients,” said Dr. Murao.

In his inaugural speech, President Obama indicated he would restore science to what he calls its rightful place.

“I think that means that you make decisions on the basis of science and not on the basis of politics,” said Dr. Roop. “It’s very well documented that for every dollar that the federal government invests in basic biomedical research, there is a return of ten dollars.”

And researchers here said stem cell research isn’t just benefiting cancer patients. Technician and grad student Megan Campbell is working on a stem cell therapy to cure EB, a skin blistering condition in children.

“The hope is that these new, corrected, right stem cells will go into these areas and fix these blisters in these little kids,” said Campbell.

“These new discoveries, it’s not going to take 20 years before they’re in the clinic. They will be in the clinic, I would bet some of the new things, in 5 years,” said Roop.

Roop said this is all dependent on Obama releasing restrictions on stem cell research and increasing funding.

Roop doesn't question the ethical debate about human embryonic stem cell research, but he calls current funding restrictions “severe”.

“The leadership position that we had in many areas of basic research, we lost during the last eight years,” said Roop. The Bush administration was supportive of adult stem cell research.

Roop said a recent breakthrough that reprograms adult cells into embryonic like cells was made by a Japanese group, but has since been reproduced by many labs -- including his.

“A basic scientist's dream is really to transfer something from the bench into the clinic.”