Stem cell research: Facts versus myths

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Written By Phil Brennan

In my work as  sacristan at St. Joan of Arc Church in Boca Raton, Florida, I see several young men at one or other of our Sunday liturgies who suffer from serious paralytic disabilities. Two of them are hopelessly paralyzed, slumped in wheel chairs, tended by loving mothers and fathers. Both are so badly crippled they can barely lift their heads. Their parents sit beside them, ready to wipe their mouths as the boys drool uncontrollably.

You have to be some kind of a monster not to be torn apart by that sight. The suffering of these youngsters, still in their teens, and of their devoted parents is intense and forever ongoing. Looking at them brings a prayer to one’s lips – a prayer that a cure will be found and their agony relieved.

The current controversy over federal funding of stem cell research brings this weekly vignette to mind – wouldn’t it be wonderful if this promised medical miracle could restore these boys and all others like them to full health?

The answer, of course has to be a resounding yes. By all means let this promising research go forward as rapidly as possible. Everyone can agree on that. But that’s where the agreement ends.

The current controversy – the one that has dragged President Bush in a political and moral bramble patch filled with sharp thorns capable of inflicting grievous wounds on his political fortunes – revolves around one very small part of the whole stem cell research matter: should living embryos be killed in the process of harvesting the stem cells needed for research? And are embryos the sole effective source of stem cells?

Nobody can be against stem cell research which could provide so many benefits in the treatment of some of mankind’s worst physical disorders. But anyone who views human life at any stage to be precious and immune to being tinkered with for any purpose whatsoever has a right and obligation to oppose the killing of some human beings to help other human beings.

Unfortunately, the proponents of the use of embryonic stem cells in research have characterized those opposed to the practice as heartless, uncaring people unmoved by the plight of those of their brothers and sisters suffering from such tragic disorders as paralysis, multiple sclerosis, Parkinson’s  or Lou Gehrig’s diseases.

The distortions of the positions of anti-embryonic, pro-life partisans have been extreme and damaging to their cause.

As Michael Fumento  noted in the July 23 issue of National Review: “To see just how bad the distortions have become in this new push, look no further than Newsweek’s July 9 issue, which presents the entire argument on the cover. “The Stem Cell Wars,” declare the boldest words. “Embryo Research vs. Pro-Life Politics: There’s Hope for Alzheimer’s, Heart Disease, Parkinson’s and Diabetes. But Will Bush Cut Off the Money?”

In examining this controversy it is vitally important to consider the facts – not the emotional myths and distortions surrounding the matter. But that’s precisely what has become the focus of the arguments.

The other night on the CBS Nightly News, what can only be described as a propaganda fest designed to put pressure on  President Bush to secure his support to end the ban on federal funding, the impression was created that the president is now standing in the way of cures for all these and many other disorders.

Christopher Reeves was trotted out to proclaim that he wants to walk again and indicated that unless the president agrees to lift the ban on federal funding for embryonic stem cell research that desire will be thwarted.

Now I yield to no one in my sympathy for Mr. Reeve’s plight, and I have long included him and all others like him in my prayers. But that claim that President Bush can simply wave his hands, OK embryonic stem cell research and  enable him to become fully mobile again simply won’t wash.

The fact is that nobody knows exactly what the fruits of the research will be. Most agree that it holds enormous promise, but at this point that’s all it is; a promise.

Then there’s the myth now being promoted by the media and the proponents of embryonic harvesting that in order to go forward, the federal government must step in and shovel tons of taxpayer’s money into research that concentrates on taking  stem cells from living human embryos, thereby killing them. Corollary to that argument, is the myth that these embryos are the only effective source of stem cells – that adult stem cells are a poor substitute.

That is simply untrue.

In recent weeks, people like Mike Fumento who have bothered to brush aside the emotional arguments and looked at the matter in the light of cold hard reality have discovered that the propaganda surround stem cell research fails to fit the facts.

Most important is the fact that embryonic stems cells are not at all the only preferred source of research material.

As Fumento noted in the above cited article, “even without federal funds, nay even without embryonic cells, stem-cell research has made tremendous strides toward bringing hope to persons with the very diseases Newsweek’s cover lists, along with many others.

Why, he asked,  aren’t we hearing about this? His answer: “scientific ignorance, with a dollop of disinformation tossed in for good measure. Advances in tissue-regeneration research are coming fast and furious because of something either ignored or pooh-poohed by embryonic-cell advocates – non-embryonic stem cells.”

Simply put there are many sources for stem cells and the are just as effective as those harvested from living human embryos – a fact either ignored by the kill -the-embryos crowd or unknown to them. They are found  throughout the body, Fumento reveals, and scientists are converting them into an incredible array of mature cells with the ability to combat a vast number of devastating diseases and injuries.

Fumento notes that the New Scientist has reported that researchers have even removed stem cells from adult human hair follicles and converted them into skin grafts for victims of severe burns and ulcerated wounds.

He lists some of the research concentrating on non-embryonic stem cells:

  • According to Nature Medicine  non-embryonic stem cells injected into rodents can transform themselves naturally into neurons and insert themselves into the brain, giving hope to persons with Parkinson’s and other disorders.
  • It another study it was discovered that injecting a chemical into damaged areas of rats’ brains stimulated stem cells to grow and differentiate into a massive number of normal, fully developed nerves. The cells repaired damage and restored mobility to the rodents. Fumento notes that this study was partly financed by the Christopher Reeve Paralysis Foundation which supports lifting the embryonic-stem-cell ban.
  • At least four rodent studies and one pig study have shown that non-embryonic stem cells can be used to repair heart tissue in animals whose hearts had been intentionally damaged.
  • Molecular and Cellular Neuroscience reported that  rats with degraded retinas were injected with non-embryonic stem cells that traveled to the site of damage. There they showed signs of making connections with the optic nerve, which would be expected to improve or even restore vision.
  • At Johns Hopkins School of Medicine researchers injected non-embryonic stem cells into the spinal fluid of paralyzed mice and rats, half of which partially or fully recovered. This paves the way for human trials for those afflicted with ALS and muscular dystrophy.
  • According to an article in the April issue of Tissue Engineering. Cells from liposuctioned fat  have been transformed into bone, muscle, cartilage, and mature fat cells.  UCLA’s Hedrick told the Los Angeles Times his findings “could take the air right out of the debate about embryonic stem cells.” The fat cells’ surprising usefulness, he said, “makes it hard to argue that we should use embryonic cells.” Dr. Adam J. Katz agreed. Katz said that: “This discovery potentially could obviate the need for using fetal tissue.”

Dr. Donald Orlic of the National Genome Research Institute told NBC News in late March that “we are currently finding that these adult stem cells can function as well, perhaps even better than, embryonic stem cells.”

Writing in the July 31 Washington Times, Fumento revealed a dramatic breakthrough simply ignored by the U.S. media: “On July 24, researchers in Rostock, Germany, announced that two weeks before they had successfully transplanted stem cells into the heart of a man whom, they report, is now doing well.”

Those cells came from the man’s own marrow. “No embryos were harmed in the making of this miracle,” Fumento wrote.

Finally, let me make one thing clear; with all my heart and soul I hope this dramatic new development will bring to mankind all the benefits scientists expect to emerge from stem cell research. I watched someone suffer and die from ALS – Lou Gehrig’s disease. It was a three year long ordeal that ended with paralysis followed by a slow and agonizing death. If stem cell research can prevent others from suffering what my beloved wife went through I’m all for it.

But I am not in favor of killing living human embryos to achieve a cure for ALS or anything else. And neither would my beloved wife have been.

As Fumento has shown – there’s no need for it.

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