 |
 |
EDITORIAL: Ease Stem Cell Restrictions The Ledger, FL - May 8, 2004 Scientists at the University of Florida were, frankly, surprised when recent tests indicated that adult blood stem cells harvested from bone marrow may have the ability to transform themselves into brain cells. If the research bears out, the discovery could eventually have a host of applications in the treatment of neurological disorders. It's a promising line of inquiry. But most scientists who engage in stem cell research acknowledge the limitations posed by the use of adult cells. Simply put, they are less able to reproduce themselves and less capable of being converted to other types of cells than are embryonic stem cells. Embryonic stem cell research has much greater potential to develop treatments and cures for a wide range of disease, from diabetes to Alzheimer's to Parkinson's disease to cancer. But the most promising and important embryonic stem cell research is likely to take place beyond America's borders in the coming years. That has less to do with science than with politics. Responding to demands from the anti-abortion lobby, the Bush administration will fund only research that uses material harvested from a limited number of embryonic stem cell lines (about 19) that already existed before Aug. 9 2001, when the policy decision was announced. That's an arbitrary and illogical restriction. Although the stem cells must be harvested from embryos, it is not necessary to collect them from, say, aborted fetuses. Ample supplies can be derived from material that is routinely discarded by in vitro fertilization clinics. This ban is based on politics and ideology, not science. And among the critics of the restriction is Nancy Reagan, who has watched helplessly for years while her husband, former President Ronald Reagan, has slowly succumbed to the ravages of Alzheimer's Disease. Today in California, the former first lady will attend a fund-raiser for the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation at which millions of dollars are expected to be raised for stem cell research. At that time, she is expected to call on President Bush to ease the restrictions he has placed on federally funded stem cell research. Meanwhile, 206 members of the U.S. House, including several prominent Republicans, have signed a letter that also urges the president to change his policy restricting embryonic stem cell research. A similar letter is being circulated in the Senate. The potential medical benefits to be derived by allowing wider access to embryonic stem cells makes this, literally, a life-ordeath policy decision. Politics should have no place in the research lab. Even Senate Republican Leader Bill Frist, RTenn., a staunch Bush ally and a physician, concedes that it's time to revisit the policy established by the administration. Objections raised by the abortion opponents ring hollow compared with the pleas of Americans who have watched loved ones and family members cruelly victimized by illnesses that might one day be successfully treated with new therapies and medicines. Easing nonsensical restrictions on embryonic stem cell research will neither encourage abortion nor cheapen human life. To the contrary, to the extent that stem cell research can push back the frontiers of medical science, human life will be enhanced and enriched. SOURCE: The Ledger, FL - May 8, 2004 http://tinyurl.com/22fga * * * ---------------------------------------------------------------------- To sign-off Parkinsn send a message to: mailto:[log in to unmask] In the body of the message put: signoff parkinsn