Stem cell research
**Originally written November 21, 2007, in the midst of a heated debate in the Nebraska legislature over stem cell research conducted in the state at the University of Nebraska Medical Center. The first of three pieces on this subject.
This has been on my mind for quite some time, and so I have to chat about it a little…okay, more than a little. This is a lengthy post. After you read this, there is a third point I will address in the next post.
1. The world is in a whirl these days with the anticipation of a new discovery that stem cells could be created from skin cells, thus essentially eliminating the big debate over embryonic stem cell research. So they say. I’ve had a little access to the hoopla prior to the big announcement, and so have been watching closely.
Read and listen here:
Scientists Produce Embryonic Stem Cells from Skin
Skin Cells Can Become Embryonic Stem Cells
Tomorrow, if you can, please read the Science article (you should be able to do this online at Science Magazine. If you cannot, please let me know, and I’ll try to get the article for you.)
2. It seems we can use primate embryos instead of human embryos in research, and that would thus essentially eliminate the big debate over human embryonic stem cell research. So they say.
Producing primate embryonic stem cells by somatic cell nuclear transfer
I’m not going to get on a particular bandwagon, because I see all sides in this (as I am wont to do), but I have a few things I want to bring up:
1. Note that in one of the news reports from NPR, a comment is made that one of the four genes used in this “cocktail” for skin cells is known as a cancer risk. This is true. It has been proven that some people are genetically predisposed to cancer. I am one of them. This then presents a Catch-22, not just for me, but for others like me. At the University of Nebraska Medical Center, stem cell treatments for cancer patients are being used. So far so good. I appreciate that stem cells can really help in the cancer battle, let alone any other battle that we have – Parkinson’s Disease and others. If stem cell treatments are changed to this particular sort of skin-cell version, I would be introducing the very gene that predisposes me to cancer. This could be true for so many. What this means is that, until they improve dramatically on the “cocktail” that will make this work, it not only cannot help me, it could kill me. Additionally, I cannot think of one reason in the world why anyone would want to introduce that genetic risk into their bodies, whether or not they are predisposed. We have more than a decade of research on this method to go. It’s in baby stages, at the very least. I don’t think we should stop, but I do think we should be realistic. This is not the magic answer. It just isn’t.
2. Primates. Hello, animal rights activists! I can see where this will go, can’t you? Let’s see how many animals we can “harvest” these embryos from, shall we? Another Catch-22. I am not now, nor have I ever been an animal rights activist. I don’t think they have a place in medical research, with the exception of possibly assisting in the monitoring of facilities so that they comply with the reasonabe accommodation of those animals that need to be used. In my world, we are not a lab looking for better cosmetics. We are a research university trying to save people’s lives. Are our labs and animal containment units compliant? Oh hell yes. The integrity of our university from the getgo is most important to us. We are a world-class institution, and our research philosophy is, as far as I am concerned, above reproach. Yet we have people who don’t know a goddamned thing about what we’re doing here, who haven’t seen the facilities, haven’t understood our processes, who think they can stand outwith the university premises and pass out sensational negative literature attached to animal rights organisations on the west coast and pretend what is downloaded from their sites is a testament to what we have going on here. It isn’t. I’ve been to the research facilities here. I know the character of these doctors. I know what they’re doing. I have done alot of independent research on this after having seen the facilities and thought about the issues at hand. Most people don’t even think about doing that or asking questions. Anything I’ve learned would be considered public information. Ask me. And in the meantime, I do believe no avenue for research should be closed – including this one.
