With the presidential election bearing down on us, John Kerry is continually denigrating President Bush over the topic of stem cell research. I feel it necessary to point out a few facts about this subject; facts about which John Kerry is greatly misinformed.
Putting aside the ethical arguments behind obtaining embryonic stem cells, there are several problems with embryonic stems cells lines. First, they are difficult to maintain and develop. The South Korean scientists that created the first human cloned embryo started out with 242 eggs, but ended up with just one line of stem cells. Next, genetic mutations are common; they cell lines often grow rapidly and form cancerous tumors when transplanted into their subjects. Also, when the scientists are able to get the cell lines to differentiate into the desired tissue type, they often act abnormally; an example is the diabetes study from the University of Calgary. The stem cells were grown into insulin-producing cells that functioned well in the lab, but when transplanted into diabetic mice, the cells failed to produce insulin and the mice died.
Adult stem cells are a viable alternative to embryonic stem cells. These stem cells are found in umbilical cord blood, placenta, bone marrow and tooth pulp. In fact, according to a report published on CBSNews.com on 10/2/04, “fat derived stem cells, researchers say, might someday provide replacement tissue for treating such conditions as Parkinson’s disease, heart attacks, heart failure and bone defects.” In the same report, according to J. Peter Rubin, MD, of the University of the Pittsburgh School of Medicine, there is “evidence that fat-derived cells can morph into bone, cartilage, skeletal muscle, blood vessel tissue, heart muscle and nerve cells.” Imagine that- turning your liposuction waste into a cure for Parkinson’s.
More advantages: adult stem cells found in one type of tissue can repair damaged tissue of a completely different type. They can be harvested from each patient, grown in culture, and then transplanted back into the same patient-thus no transplant rejection. And importantly, there are no ethical concerns in harvesting these cells.
In fact, on Sept 4, 2004, Reuters news service reported the results of a groundbreaking study where bone marrow stem cells obtained from adults were injected into patients who needed heart transplants, and their hearts began to grow healthy muscle and blood vessels!!! Four out of the five patients treated thusly no longer needed transplants!!
And some final words of advice to John Kerry- remember the tragedy of unrestrained scientific experimentation on humans in the name of some nebulous “greater good.”
Remember the horrifying experiments of the Nazis at Dachau. The deliberate infliction of gun shot wounds to see how they’d heal. The traumatic amputations of limbs without anesthesia, and then transplanting these different limbs on to other prisoners to see if they’d adapt.
Remember the Tuskegee Syphilis study. Taking black men known to be infected with syphilis and deliberately withholding treatment just to observe the natural history of the disease.
Remember the studies done at the Jewish Chronic Disease Hospital in New York (1963)-where chronically ill but cancer free elderly patients were injected with live cancer cells to see how the body would respond.
Remember the Willowbrook State School incident (1963-1966) where mentally retarded children were purposely injected with live hepatitis vaccine to test the efficacy of an experimental hepatitis vaccine.
Why destroy an embryo to collect stem cells when there is another viable option?
John White, MD
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