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Welcome to BBSNews Tuesday, January 09 2007 @ 08:54 PM EST US Religious Right Strangling Stem Cell Research Tuesday, January 09 2007 @ 12:45 PM EST Stem Cell Research Enhancement Act Re-introduced Unchanged From Legislation Vetoed by President Bush BBSNews 2007-01-09 -- Senator Tom Harkin (D-Iowa) has a personal interest in passing embryonic stem cell legislation for not only millions of others in dire need of this life improving research, but also for his Navy vet nephew who became quadriplegic from a spinal chord injury while serving in the US Navy. It was announced yesterday that new research shows some promise from stem cells found floating in amniotic fluid and able to be harvested from a fairly common and relatively safe procedure called amniocentesis. Wake Forest University School of Medicine and Harvard Medical School after seven years of research published a study yesterday in the journal Nature Biotechnology about the latest source of stem cells which they have named amniotic fluid-derived stem (AFS) cells, Anthony Atala, M.D., senior researcher and director of the Institute for Regenerative Medicine at Wake Forest University School of Medicine Atala said in a release: "In addition to being easily obtainable, the AFS cells can be grown in large quantities because they typically double every 36 hours. They also do not require guidance from other cells (termed 'feeders') and they do not produce tumors, which can occur with certain other types of stem cells. The scientists noted that specialized cells generated from the AFS cells included all three classes of cells found in the developing embryo - termed ectoderm, mesoderm, and endoderm. In their high degree of flexibility and growth potential, the AFS cells resemble human embryonic stem cells, which are believed capable of generating every type of adult cell. "'The full range of cells that AFS cells can give rise to remains to be determined,' said Atala. 'So far, we've been successful with every cell type we've attempted to produce from these stem cells. The AFS cells can also produce mature cells that meet tests of function, which suggests their therapeutic value." The new bill sponsored by Senator Harkin is unchanged from the bill passed by both houses of Congress last year, the only time President Bush sought to dust off his veto pen, as Harkin makes clear on his Web site: "The bipartisan bill, the Stem Cell Research Enhancement Act (S. 5), is exactly the same as the bill that both houses of Congress passed last year. Not a word was changed. The House passed it 238 to 194, and the Senate passed it 63 to 37. Regrettably, the President chose to exercise the first - and, so far, the only - veto of his administration to reject the bill. He ignored the overwhelming majority of the American people. He ignored scores of Nobel laureates. He ignored his top scientists at the National Institutes of Health. And with one stroke of his pen, he dashed the hopes of millions of Americans who are suffering from diseases and other debilitating conditions." Why would President Bush do such a thing? Because he is totally beholden to right-wing extremist religious "conservatives" who use their misguided influence to drive scientific fact from the United States to other countries. Those countries will pull ahead of the US in terms of ability and breakthroughs until the stranglehold that the religious right has on US government research is broken forever. Solid research must trump religious fervor and outdated mythical thinking or the United States will lose its place as the leader in medicine and medical technology around the world. The Baptist Press yesterday said: "The announcement of the newly discovered cells, however, did not deter at least some stem cell researchers from their plans to pursue destructive experiments. 'They are not a replacement for embryonic stem cells,' Harvard researcher George Daley told The Post." What the Baptist Press disingenuously leaves out for their readers is the language in the bill about the ethics involved. The bill provides three tests that embryonic stem cells used for research must meet before even being considered eligible: "(1) The stem cells were derived from human embryos that have been donated from in vitro fertilization clinics, were created for the purposes of fertility treatment, and were in excess of the clinical need of the individuals seeking such treatment. (2) Prior to the consideration of embryo donation and through consultation with the individuals seeking fertility treatment, it was determined that the embryos would never be implanted in a woman and would otherwise be discarded. (3) The individuals seeking fertility treatment donated the embryos with written informed consent and without receiving any financial or other inducements to make the donation." In other words, what Baptist Press and others of their ilk fail to tell their readers is that these cells are going to be discarded and wasted regardless of whether this research proceeds in the United States or not. Privately funded research is ongoing and they don't mention that. And they do not tell their readers that the embryonic stem cells in question will be destroyed making the whole ethical question moot. Indeed, experts are firm in their beliefs that all types of stem cell research should be pursued and real breakthroughs will take much longer without federal funding of this valuable research: "The scientific community stands firm that research, not ideology, must determine stem cells' true promise - and that embryonic stem cells so far are backed by the most promising evidence that one day they might be used to grow replacements for damaged tissue, such as new insulin-producing cells for diabetics or new nerve connections to restore movement after spinal injury. "Let's let the laboratories worldwide figure out which ones are the best for the task at hand, and that's discovering treatments and cures for people who need them," adds bioethicist Christopher Scott, who heads the Stanford Program on Stem Cells and Society. He is tracking how batches of embryonic stem cells created by U.S. researchers are being shipped abroad, and worries that other countries more aggressively pursuing the field may be first to turn the master cells into cures unavailable to Americans. 'Will patients have to travel to Australia to get the therapies?' he asks." Clearly, Americans will be faced with a lack of treatment or have to travel outside of the country for these breakthroughs if the religious right is allowed to trump science and reason with superstition and myth, and it is past time to separate their influence from science in the US. Let the soothsayers of the radical right take care of their own lives but don't let them hold back American science anymore. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- To sign-off Parkinsn send a message to: mailto:[log in to unmask] In the body of the message put: signoff parkinsn