SOURCE: Omaha World-Herald
June 1, 2001, Friday SUNRISE EDITION
SECTION: EDITORIAL; Pg. 10;
HEADLINE: Developments Affirm Stem Cell Importance
"Two new developments connected to stem-cell research underscore why,
when
the Nebraska Legislature goes back into next session next year, it would
do well
to scrap legislation aimed at stopping much of it.
As expected, the University of Nebraska's bioethics committee
released a
report saying the use of such cells from embryos should be allowed if it
is
warranted. And at the university's medical center, researchers believe
they are
on track toward a vaccine to cure Parkinson's disease.
Using embryonic cells here is in essence a non-issue at the moment.
Scientists have not been doing it, and NU President L. Dennis Smith says
such
research is on hold. In part, it's not certain that the researchers want
to take
that route. In part, the Bush administration has put a freeze on federal
funding
for such work while Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy Thompson
reviews federal guidelines on the matter adopted last year.
At least, though, the committee put the matter under close scrutiny
and
concluded that there should be internal safeguards but not flat barriers.
That's
a proper conclusion, as long as the embryos are destined to be discarded
anyway,
proper consent has been given and no embryos are created for research
purposes.
These and other guidelines are part of the panel's report.
Regarding the hoped-for Parkinson's vaccine, research chief Howard
Gendelman
points out that even if the research is successful, it will be years
before such
treatment is approved for general use. Although he and fellow researcher
Eric
Bender have applied for a patent, there have not yet even been tests on
mice,
much less humans. Gendelman is also quick to point out that the work here
builds
on that of many scientists and others at many institutions.
That said, the Parkinson's work could prove to be some of the most
important
ever performed by Gendelman's team or anyone else at UNMC. And although
stem
cells (in this instance, those of fetuses from legal elective abortions)
won't
be used in making the vaccine, they will play a role in testing it.
On all sides of the debate over fetal-cell research, people are
hoping that
some source of useful cells can be developed other than those from
embryos and
fetuses. But, with some exceptions, that hope doesn't yet represent the
state of
the researchers' art. And we have not seen anything like credible
evidence to
support the notion that either embryos or fetuses are being created or
destroyed
because of such research. The scientists are merely trying to salvage,
from
regrettable circumstances, some great benefits for the human race.
Two news stories on the same day, then, point to the importance of
such
work. The voices of those who object to it have been heard and deserve
respect.
But if legislation to ban stem-cell work derived from elective abortions
or
embryos were to be enacted, it would change nothing in the fertilization
labs or
in the abortion clinics. It would only drive potentially lifesaving
research out
of the state and poison the scientific atmosphere here for many
researchers
pondering future cutting-edge projects.
For these reasons, the lawmakers' wisest course will be to set such
well-meant but harmful legislation aside. We hope they'll do that."
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