She graduated from Klamath Falls High School in 1960 and attended University of Virginia where she received the first of her two bachelor's degrees, in nursing.

To understand the normal biologic role of reverse transcriptase, Kiessling began to study eggs and early cleaving embryos.

[9] The techniques developed for the Special Program of Assisted Reproduction have been extended to other diseases of the male genitourinary tract, such as prostatitis and bladder infections.

The law review addresses the controversy of all of the entities that are currently called embryos with regards to embryonic stem cell research legislation around the world.

[12] In 2003, Kiessling wrote Human Embryonic Stem Cells: An Introduction to the Science and Therapeutic Potential, the first textbook on the controversial topic.

[13] Kiessling is a member of the California (California Constitution Article XXXV) and Connecticut Stem Cell Research Advisory Boards,[14] and a member of the Embryonic Stem Cell Research Oversight Committees for Harvard University,[15] Joslin Diabetes Center and Children's Hospital.