Joan -

         You have a gift for making the most complex issue seem easy
to understand.  I wish that you could write for the President.  He
could use some clarity in trying to explain his positions.

Admiringly,

Bill Isbell
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

At 11:16 PM 7/19/2007, you wrote:

>i thought that now might be a good time to dust the ole paper and
>give it a reprint and see if it still holds up...lemme know, ok?
>
>Stem Cells, Cloning-the Science behind all of the Rhetoric
>
>
>
>Out there on the political battlefield, sides have been taken, round
>after round has been fired, causalities sustained by both sides, but
>in my view, everything is obliterated by a shroud of smoke which
>fills the air and makes it almost impossible to think straight. The
>cause of this smokescreen is language: words that are as powerful as
>flamethrowers and words that ignite fierce reactions from both sides.
>
>
>
>  I am Joan Snyder. Many of you know me as a wife and mom and a
> parishioner at St. Edward Catholic Church in Chillicothe, IL. Still
> others know me as a 51 year old woman who has been diagnosed with
> Parkinson's Disease for 13 years; an activist and a fundraiser.
> Those who know me at all, know that for years I have been walking a
> tightrope between the controversial, moral and ethical problems
> that have surrounded those with my disease, Alzheimer's (which
> killed my father), ALS, spinal chord injury, heart disease,
> diabetes and other devastating diseases that could possibly be
> cured with the stem cell research and the cloning going on now in
> the science community.
>
>
>
>I am hoping that medical research has finally given us an answer
>which will ultimately allow me to feel both that I have not
>compromised my Catholic Pro-Life beliefs nor have I turned my back
>on the many thousands of fellow PWP's (People With Parkinson's) whom
>I have gotten to know in person and on the web-looking at them as if
>in a mirror, watching their slow, downward progression mimic mine.
>
>
>
>  Let us begin with definitions of some of the scariest words out there:
>
>STEM CELLS-Undifferentiated, primitive cells with the ability both
>to multiply and to differentiate into specific kinds of cells. Stem
>cells hold the promise of allowing researchers to grow specialized
>cells or tissue, which could be used to treat injuries or disease.
>There are different types of stem cells and different ways of
>harvesting (gathering these precious cells). I will talk about these
>differences later.
>
>
>
>CLONING-Cloning is the creation of multiple copies of a single
>molecule, cell or virus. There are many types of cloning, most of
>which are now commonplace in science. Cloning has allowed scientists
>to develop powerful new drugs and to produce insulin and useful
>bacteria in the lab. It also allows researchers to track the origins
>of biological weapons, catch criminals and free innocent people and
>produce more plants and animals to an undernourished world population.
>
>REPRODUCTIVVE CLONING-is the use of cloning technology to create a
>child. It entails taking a fertilized egg and implanting it into a
>woman's uterus. I find the entire concept abhorrent, immoral and
>completely unethical. I think that this kind of research should be
>shut down and it is something that should be banned right away.
>
>THERAPEUTIC CLONING /SCNT (SOMATIC CELL NUCLEAR TRANSFER)-this
>involves removing the contents of an UNFERTILIZED  egg cell,
>replacing it with the  nucleus of a "somatic cell" (a skin, heart,
>or a nerve cell for example) and stimulating this cell to begin
>dividing. Once the cell begins dividing, stem cells can be extracted
>5-6 days later and used for research. SCNT does NOT utilize a
>fertilized egg and it does NOT  produce an embryo to be implanted in
>a woman's womb therefore SCNT does NOT produce a child.
>
>The words "stem cell" create a powerful, explosive reaction in
>people on both sides of the abortion issue. The fact is that stem
>cells are in our own blood, fat tissues, and perhaps many other
>parts of our bodies. These are adult stem cells which have already
>differentiated themselves into the kind of cell that they have
>become. It is thought that  with further research, these may be part
>of a cure for disease.but no one knows for sure.
>
>There are also stem cells that can be harvested from umbilical cord
>blood which is routinely discarded after a baby is born. Around the
>nation, cord blood banks are being set up to help doctors and
>families donate their umbilical cord for research.
>
>Dr. Michel Levesque has been doing work which uses the patient's own
>neural stem cells. He removed neural stem cells from the patient's
>brain, cultured them in the lab for months to produce several
>million stem cells and then implanted them into the part of the
>brain that is affected by the lack of dopamine producing cells. Thus
>far, his work holds tremendous promise and then there is the
>research being conducted right here in Peoria by  Dr. Rick Weber who
>is an Associate Professor of Immunopharmacology and Microbiology
>here at the University of Illinois College of Medicine, who is
>working on his project which involves activated leukacytes utilizing
>the white blood cells of the patient's own blood.
>
>The problem lies herein-at the very mention of the words stem cells,
>people tend to forget that there are many kinds of stem cells out
>there that need to be researched. Embryonic stem cells are the
>flashpoint that both sides of the abortion issue are reacting to
>when stem cells are mentioned. These must be harvested from the
>embryos which are aborted. I cannot reconcile taking a life for
>giving a life. There are serious trains of thought being argued
>about the "leftover" embryos that are created by a couple using
>in-vitro fertilization and which are routinely destroyed by clinics
>and hospitals each day. It is at this point that the clouds of
>uncertainty roll in:
>
>Which is more pro-life: to allow the continued destruction of these
>embryos which will never become children because they are destined
>never to be transplanted in a woman's womb? Or is it more pro-life
>to use these discarded embryos to start new stem cell lines for
>research thus giving them meaning and dignity?. I have to admit to
>not knowing the answer to this thorny and moralistic hot potato, but
>I can tell you that years of watching this disease take my friends
>away, little by little.sometimes makes me question my own beliefs.
>
>So, this brings us back to the issue of cloning. I maintain that
>there is a world of difference between reproductive
>cloning-something which should be banned immediately and therapeutic
>cloning. Therapeutic cloning offers great promise for curing deadly
>and terrible diseases. Therapeutic cloning saves lives; it doesn't
>create lives.
>
>I'm hoping that I have helped somewhat in clearing up some of the
>misconceptions and maybe hold out some hope that  there may be some
>common ground where the pro-life and the pro-choice people can come
>together in a combined effort to eradicate the devastation and the
>suffering of so many.
>
>
>
>joan blessington snyder  55/17'
>www.calipso-pd,org
>'Hang tough.......no way through it but to do it."
>Chris  in the Morning       Northern Exposure
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>
>--
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>7/20/2007 4:39 PM

Bill Isbell

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Santa Barbara , California




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