Mar 11 2009
Let’s get to the stem of the issue…
President Obama recently lifted the [GW] Bush administration’s ban on federal funding for embryonic stem cell research. Stem cell research is a topic of hot debate, and I realized recently that I have no idea how it works or exactly what processes it entails.
My limited knowledge is as follows: I know that there are stem cells present in the placenta and umbilical cord (courtesy of Law & Order: SVU). There are also adult stem cells which can be taken from blood or bone marrow (courtesy of Wikipedia).
I know there is much more at stake than this, and after my cursory Internet research on stem cells in general, I wanted to look at this piece of legislation in particular. The Very Short List mailing list to which I belong recently sent me a link to an Obama watchdog website known as the Obameter. This seemed like a good place to start looking for more information about his March 9 decision to officially lift the ban.
The website explains that harvesting stem cells does not necessarily equate abortion, claiming that “The embryos typically come from private fertility clinics, where they would likely have been destroyed anyway.” To me, this seems plausible; the stem cells garnered by this method would have been created in a controlled setting.
The web site also says that “Federal law still bans federal funding for research in which scientists destroy human embryos. Under Obama’s order, scientists may now study stem cell lines created by others, but they still may not create their own lines.” Again, I do not know exactly what one must do to create a new stem cell line, but I think it is important to note that there are limits and guidelines for the scientists to follow as they learn about cells (according to the Pensacola News Journal, “Researchers also are learning to take ordinary cells and reprogram them to act like stem cells.”).
My goat and I are intrigued by this new legislation and the possible cures which may come from it. We are hopeful that our loved ones will not have to suffer from diseases which stem cells may cure. Most importantly, we want to know more about the process of obtaining and using stem cells. We want the public to have a better idea of how it works so that the controversy surrounding stem cell research can at least partially subside.
Heya Randi. Just wanted to let you know that stem cells are basically cells which have yet to differentiate. There are different levels in which they undergo, and at each stage there’s basically no turning back. For example, you may have a completely undifferentiated cell which is programed to become a skin cell, muscle cell, nerve cell, whatever. After the first fork in the road, it becomes more specific, yet still has more choices (term used loosely). A blood cell may differentiate into one of the different types of blood cells (red or white) and white blood cells can differentiate into one of 4 types of white blood cells. Once it hits the end of the road block, that’s it, it remains that way. Sooooo… sometimes we may need more cells of a certain type, for example more nervous cells when there’s a spinal injury. We can’t take blood cells and hope to heal the injury because those cells have gone down a completely different path. But as an adult, there aren’t any stem cells far back enough for the body to use to regenerate those dead nerve cells, so paralysis is usually a permanent thing. Embryos, however, have tons of stem cells since they still have yet to differentiate into their respective cell types.
Now, where the controversy lies is that before, the only way to get those stem cells is to harvest them while destroying the embryo. Through years of doing that, scientists have then discovered ways of harvesting just enough cells to effectively create a cell line, without destroying the embryo. This discovery was made through private funding during the Bush Ban. Also many new ways of gathering stem cells safely have been discovered through privately funded research. So! Goes to show the scientific community still chugs through, no thanks to the US government. But yes, stem cells have the potential to cure any degenerative disease. Read that again and consider it’s meaning. Most people don’t realize its power. I have tons of stories, but I’ll leave you there, haha.
Thanks for putting that in lay[wo]man’s terms for me, Don! I always felt that equating harvesting stem cells with abortion was simplistic and problematic. I wonder why these newer, safer ways of gathering cells are not better publicized?
“[…] stem cells have the potential to cure any degenerative disease.” That is pretty amazing, and I’m excited by the prospect of stem cell research leading to these cures! Hopefully, as we learn more about stem cells, the stigma attached to stem cell research will disappear, and we will equate them with saving lives, not destroying them.