Stem Cell battle: embryonic vs. adult

Kenrick had a workshop today on stem cells and cloning. Fr. Richard, the vice-rector at Kenrick and an noted authority on stem cells, gave a wonderful presentation and there are some very valuable points he made that I want to address in this blog entry. He was followed by Larry Weber, who is the Executive Director of Missouri Catholic Conference. Lastly, Molly Kertz, the Director of the St. Louis Archdiocese Respect Life Office, gave a presentation. The talks focused on two cental issues, stem cell research and cloning, and the existing political challenges concerning these issues.

One of the most impressive facts Fr. Richard gave was that embryonic stem cells (ESC) have resulted in NO cures or treatment of any diseases in humans and its use in animal tests have usually produced tumors in the animal. On the other hand, adult stem cells (ASC) have been used to successfully cure and treat over 65 various diseases from blindness to diabetes to cancer. In a number of cases, a blind person was able to see for the first time using adult stem cells to regenerate the cornea. In the area of diabetes, several persons with Type I diabetes had adult stem cells injected into their pancreas and this resulted in them no longer needing ANY insulin injections and they now live a healthy, diabetes-free life ( www.stemcellresearch.org).

In focusing on embryonic stem cells, there are many factors to consider. First, because ESCs are designed for rapid, pluripotent growth in embryos, meaning they can more readily become any type of cell when in the embryo, they are unstable and unpredictable when implanted in adults. In fact, ESCs often create monster tumors containing different cell types such as hair, bone, and teeth.

Secondly, is the question of whether ESC is primarily for patient cures or patent profit. A wonderful article by Jean Swenson, a quadriplegic due to a car accident in 1980, points out the patient vs. patent problem. She says:

Because complex safety problems must be overcome before ESCs are medically usable, ESC research provides greater research and patent potentials for scientists, research institutions, and biotech industry...the fact that research and industry stand to gain financially through publicly funded ESC research whether or not any effective therapies are ever developed should raise red flags to those expecting cures from such research (Minnesota Daily).

Directly connected with stem cell research is the issue of cloning. While the details of the scientific process used to create human embryo clones for stem cell research are complicated, one can understand the facts when they are presented honestly. For example, embryonic stem cell advocates try to convince people that Somatic Cell Nuclear Transfer (SCNT), used for creating embryos from which embryonic stem cells are extraced, is not cloning. The reality is that human life is possible upon SCNT and that this procedure is exactly the same for both reproductive cloning and therapeutic cloning.

I will blog specifically on cloning in a future blog. I will close this blog with some truths that debunk the dishonest statments and myths of cloning and stem cell research:

MYTH: Somatic Cell Nuclear Transfer (SCNT) is a recent medical breakthrough that can use a patient's own cells and an unfertilized human egg to make ES cells that match the patient's genetic makeup. ES cell research does not use or harm an embryo or fetus in a woman's uterus (http://www.missouricures.com/keyfacts.php).

TRUTH: Somatic Cell Nuclear Transfer (SCNT) is a technical term that describes the process for creating a cloned human embryo. This is the same procedure that produced "Dolly the Sheep" and now scientists want to use it to clone humans (http://www.nocloning.org/page.asp?id=2&name=Learn%20The%20Facts).

MYTH: Adult stem cells can turn into a limited number of related cell types. ESC have the potential to turn into any type of cell or tissue in the human body. As a result, ESC could provide cures for many diseases and injuries that cannot be cured with adult stem cells (http://www.missouricures.com/keyfacts.php).

TRUTH: Embryonic stem cells are hard to control, and hard to grow in a reliable way. They have "minds" of their own, and embryonic stem cells are often unstable, producing unexpected results as they divide, or even cancerous growths (http://www.globalchange.com/stemcells2.htm).

MYTH: (Embryonic) stem cells made with the SCNT process have the added advantage of being made with DNA from a patient's own cell – thus eliminating the need for a genetically matching donor and the problem of immune system rejection (http://www.missouricures.com/keyfacts.php).

TRUTH: There are several excellent alternatives to embryos, and they are actually better potential sources of stem cells for numerous reasons. The best sources are from our own organs termed "adult stem cells" or "tissue stem cells." One distinct advantage of using our own adult stem cells is that there will be no transplant rejection, since it is our own tissue. Use of human embryonic stem cells will require lifelong use of drugs to prevent rejection of the tissue (National Review).

These are just some of the many, many, many myths that are floating around toting embryonic stem cells and downplaying adult stem cells. Until next time...God bless.

posted by: crossman at 17:07 | link | comments |
blog