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The source of this article is Naples Daily News: http://tinyurl.com/6ob4n Michael Fumento: Ron Reagan's stem-cell sham By MICHAEL FUMENTO, Scripps Howard News Service August 2, 2004 It "may be the greatest medical breakthrough in our or in any lifetime: the use of embryonic stem cells," Ronald Reagan Jr. told enthralled listeners at the Democratic National Convention. These cells could "cure a wide range of fatal and debilitating illnesses: Parkinson's disease, multiple sclerosis, diabetes, lymphoma, spinal-cord injuries and much more." Yet, "there are those who would stand in the way of this remarkable future, who would deny the federal funding so crucial to basic research," he warned, concluding we must "cast a vote for embryonic stem-cell research" on Election Day. Now why would the Democrats choose RR Jr. to deliver this speech? Heretofore, his only recognized expertise was in ballet. He never pretended his medical knowledge went further than perhaps watching "General Hospital" as a youth. The reason, naturally, is that RR Jr. is not only the son of a conservative Republican president, but of one whose disease we're told could one day be cured with ES cell therapy. How utterly delicious! Liberal, pro-Kerry columnist Richard Cohen accused RR Jr. of "grave robbery," not so much for exploiting his father's name but for doing it so cynically. After all, RR Jr. is a lifelong liberal who never voted for his dad, according to Reagan's other son, columnist and radio-show host Michael Reagan. And Miss Manners would surely not approve of R.R Jr. converting the eulogy for his father into a political speech with a thinly veiled swipe at President Bush for "wearing his faith on his sleeve to gain political advantage." In a recent column that I'm happy to say quoted my stem-cell work, Michael Reagan declared he was "tired of the media's insistence on reporting that the Reagan 'family' is in favor of stem-cell research, when the truth is that two members of the family have been longtime foes of it ... my dad, Ronald Reagan, during his lifetime, and me." As to RR Jr.'s convention speech, it was so opposite the truth as to resemble a photographic negative. Far from blocking federal ES cell research funding, Bush specifically authorized it so long as it used existing lines of embryonic cells. But more remarkably, RR Jr. made absolutely no reference to an alternative to ES cells that is decades more advanced and carries absolutely no moral baggage. "Adult stem cells" can be extracted from various places in the human body as well as blood in umbilical cords and placentas. They were first used to treat human illness in 1957. By the 1980s, AS cells were literally curing a variety of cancers and other diseases; ES cells have never been tested on a human. AS cells now treat about 80 different diseases; again, ES cells have treated no one. AS cells obviously aren't rejected when taken from a patient's own body, though they may be from an unmatched donor; ES cells have surface proteins that often cause rejection. Implanted ES cells also have a nasty tendency to multiply uncontrollably, a process called "cancer." Oops. Regarding Alzheimer's specifically, drugs will probably provide the cure. But forget ES cells, as Ronald McKay, a stem-cell researcher at the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, recently told The Washington Post. He labeled claims of an ES cure for Alzheimer's "a fairy tale." All ES cells ever had on their side was potential, the belief that only they could be coaxed into becoming every type of cell in the body. Yet three different labs have now discovered that may be true of certain AS cells. So why do we keep hearing so much about "miraculous" ES cells? Because private investors know otherwise, pumping money into AS research and leaving ES cell labs and companies desperate to feed from the public trough. RR Jr. began his talk by saying it "should not — must not — have anything to do with partisanship," thereby signaling its sole purpose. The Democratic position is a cynical and cruel attempt to strip away Republicans kept ignorant of AS cells and convince them Bush is pigheadedly stopping a technology that will cure everything from Alzheimer's to AIDS. In what's already a nasty campaign, Ron Reagan Jr.'s speech may have been the most vicious attack yet. Michael Fumento ( [log in to unmask] ) is a senior fellow at the Hudson Institute, a syndicated columnist with Scripps Howard News Service and author of "BioEvolution: How Biotechnology is Changing Our World." ---------------------------------------------------------------------- To sign-off Parkinsn send a message to: mailto:[log in to unmask] In the body of the message put: signoff parkinsn