A hot item in the news today is that of newly discovered stem cells and their potential to "cure" some diseases of the elderly. In the fall of 1998, researchers from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and John Hopkins University reported that they had succeeded in isolating and culturing embryonic stem cells, something scientists had been attempting for more than a decade.
Stem cells are the universal cells from which all other cells are derived. They can be grown in test tubes and engineered to become anything from muscle cells to brain cells. Many people are convinced that in a matter of years it will be possible to use human stem cells to repair damaged tissues and organs, including the brain. This sounds like a potential method to cure Parkinson's and Alzheimer's disease. So, what are we waiting for?
The problem is an ethical one. These stem cells come from early human embryos and from tissues from aborted fetuses. A clause added to the 1999 National Institutes of Health Appropriations Bill makes it unlawful to use public funds to perform research in which a human embryo or embryos are destroyed, discarded, or knowingly subjected to risk of injury or death. The Clinton administration argues that stem cell research can be funded, as long as the stem cells are obtained from private sources and federal researchers destroy the embryos themselves. The National Bioethics Advisory Commission has drafted recommendations urging a change in the present law. The White House endorses the more cautious approach of the National Institutes of Health in which only lab-grown cells would be used. This 17 member panel also recommends setting up a registry to track embryo use. Despite these new recommendations the ethical battle goes on as precious time passes.
A Coalition for Urgent Research, which consists of more than 30 groups, is pressing for federal funding. The group includes the American Parkinson's Disease Association, the Juvenile Diabetes Foundation, and the Christopher Reeve Paralysis Foundation. No matter what your religious beliefs, one cannot overlook the words of Joseph Bailey with fatal "Lou Gehrig's Disease" who, in reference to leftover embryos at fertility clinics, wrote, "no life will ever come from these sources, except perhaps mine and more than 100 million Americans suffering from fatal and chronic diseases."
July 31, 1999
By David L. Cram, M.D.
[http://www.agenet.com/?Url=link.asp?DOC/185]
Scientists find new stemcell source -
Scientists in Scotland say they've discovered a way to harvest stem cells from non-viable embryos (22.6.2007)
Sex Of Stem Cells Found Important For Regenerative Medicine -
Female stem cells derived from muscle have a greater ability to regenerate skeletal muscle tissue than male cells, according to a study at Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh of the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (11.4.2007)
Stem Cell Therapy Shows Promise For Rescuing Deteriorating Vision -
For the millions of Americans whose vision is slowly ebbing due to degenerative diseases of the eye, the lowly neural progenitor cell may be riding to the rescue (30.3.2007)
Mouse tests show stem cells treat brain disease -
Human stem cells taken from both embryos and fetuses delayed a fatal brain and nerve disease in mice, moving throughout the brain to take on the jobs of damaged neurons, scientists reported on Sunday (15.3.2007)
A Special Issue on Stem Cell Research -
Stem cells possess the remarkable ability of extensive self-renewal and differentiation into specific cell lineages, and they play essential roles in development and adult tissue homeostasis (1.3.2007)
