 |
 |
George W Bush to undergo stem cell therapyPublished August 14th, 2007 George W. Bush A version of this futuristic, satirical jab at presidential stem cell policy first appeared in Old Trout quarterly. A new edition of the essay, along with a discussion of the international consequences of Bush's assault on science will appear next year in American Thought and Culture in the 21st Century. Ailing George W. Bush to undergo stem cell therapy in London Daughter Jenna donates cells in hopes of curing his deadly disease August 9, 2016 Christopher Thomas Scott London Correspondent, World Press International British authorities, including former Prime Minister Tony Blair, greeted a gravely ill George W. Bush, aged 70, as he arrived on a hospital gurney to a subdued gathering at Heathrow International Airport. Bush suffers from Guillain-Barré (ghee-yan bah-ray) Syndrome (GBS), an immune system disorder that mercilessly attacks the body's nervous system. In its severe form, it causes paralysis of the legs, arms, breathing muscles and face. GBS affects thousands of Americans every year. In acute cases such as Mr. Bush's, the pulmonary complications can be deadly. Bush's sickness came on suddenly after suffering a bout of flu at his ranch in Crawford, Texas. As his condition worsened, family members consulted with specialists at Washington's newly rebuilt Walter Reed Medical Center. Within hours, he was rushed to London on a specially equipped plane staffed with medical personnel. He entered the prestigious King's College Stem Cell Therapy Institute, where treatments for autoimmune diseases such as type I diabetes, rheumatoid arthritis and GBS show great promise. A grim anniversary The news comes exactly fifteen years after Bush's controversial proclamations on embryonic stem cell research. From his Texas ranch on August 9, 2001, he announced that from that day forward, not a single dollar from the 28 billion dollar budget of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) could be used to make new embryonic stem cell lines (some funding was still possible for research with a handful of preexisting embryonic cell lines). His pronouncement prompted outrage from scientists, citizens, doctors, and patients, who objected to a policy based on the beliefs of a powerful political minority. Advocates stepped into the breach, supporting a handful of private and state-funded programs, including California's multibillion-dollar bond measure for embryonic stem cell research, which awarded its first grants in 2007. Congress scrambled to write, and then voted to enact laws to overturn his policy. But the legislative efforts were in vain. In 2006, Bush scuppered the first Congressional action-his first veto ever. In conservative quarters, his open religious views and uncompromising moral certitude prompted other political gambits, including the passage of the Embryo Protection Act, authored by then-senator Sam Brownback, a religious conservative. Under the sweeping provisions of the act, any American scientist, clinician, or patient found using stem cells made from unwanted, two-day-old frozen embryos obtained from in vitro fertilization (IFV) clinics is subject to criminal penalties of $1,000,000 and 10 years in prison. The result of the embryo legislation was swift and immediate. Senior biomedical stem cell researchers abandoned their laboratories. Young university scientists, who use government funds to establish their research programs, chose other careers. A chill descended on American capital markets, which rely on steady and unencumbered transfer of technology and talent from academic and non-profit institutions into the for-profit sector. A new term entered the investment lexicon, "founder flight." American inventiveness, long a trademark of NIH investment in frontier medicine, began to slow. Countries such as England, Norway, Israel, Australia, China and Singapore stepped into the breach, developing novel therapies to benefit their citizens. The result: an epidemic of "medical tourism," as sick Americans traveled abroad for embryonic stem cell treatment-risking imprisonment once they returned home. A bitter irony The therapy sought by Bush began its journey in the United States. Researchers announced in 2002 that they could cure mice mimicking human forms of autoimmune disease using embryonic stem cells. Fine-tuning the treatment came thanks to a second type of laboratory mouse with a brain partially comprised of diseased human neurons. Thousands of drug candidates were screened in these animals. One of these compounds will be administered to Mr. Bush. Use of the special mice, called neural chimeras, is also illegal in the US. After they were first developed in California, Bush stated in his 2006 State of the Union address, "Tonight I ask you to pass legislation to prohibit the most egregious abuses of medical research: human cloning in all its forms, creating or implanting embryos for experiments, creating human-animal hybrids, and buying, selling, or patenting human embryos." Brownback's embryo protection act also outlaws neural chimeras. As a result, the valuable rodents were smuggled to Singapore, where they are used to discover drugs for a wide range of dementias, including Parkinson and Alzheimer disease. A DNA donor: don't leave home without one Bush's treatment is becoming standard care for Europeans but is virtually unknown in America. Clinicians will begin by using a technique called nuclear transfer-also known as therapeutic cloning. Using a very fine glass needle, the nucleus-containing genetic material or DNA-is gently suctioned from a skin cell donated by Bush's daughter, Jenna. The nucleus is transferred into a human egg stripped of its DNA. A small pulse of electricity prompts the egg to divide. After a few days, a clump of cells from the inside of the egg are removed and put into a plastic dish where they begin to multiply, forming an immortal line of embryonic stem cells. The cells made from his daughter's DNA, while not genetically identical, must be used because the elder Bush's cells are defective. Doctors first will attempt to fix his faulty immune system by replacing his rampaging white blood cells with healthy, specialized stem cells made from the "Jenna line." The procedure involves a mild dose of chemotherapy and drugs to prevent rejection of the new cells. Once he has stabilized, a different chemical cocktail will induce the embryonic line to produce a fresh supply of neural stem cells. They will be injected into his brain to replace motor neurons damaged by the disease. Drugs discovered using the outlawed chimeric mice will stabilize Bush while he recovers. Thanks to the new technologies, thousands of patients suffering from autoimmune disease now lead vastly improved lives. Banishment News of Bush's sickness and treatment sent shock waves through Washington. Religious conservative Pat Robertson, the keynote speaker at a Tennessee conference for geologists studying intelligent design, called for Bush's immediate imprisonment upon his return to Texas. Former senate majority leader Bill Frist-now president of a health management company-said he had reviewed a video feed of Bush shortly after he arrived in London. Frist, a heart surgeon and social conservative, enraged moderate voters in 2005 with his push for federal intervention to maintain life support for Terri Schiavo, a brain-damaged Florida woman. "As a medical doctor, I see nothing wrong with him," he declared. "It's clear that his facial expression and labored breathing is just excitement at the prospect of seeing his old friend Tony Blair." Meanwhile, Congress called a special session to discuss the issue of a pardon for the former president. When asked after considering Bush's grave condition if the cloning act ought to be amended to allow therapies using embryonic stem cells, Senate Majority leader Brownback said, "No." "God is punishing him for the sins he committed during college. His family can be forgiven for trying to make him well. But we must think of all the cloned human beings-the walking, talking embryos reaching out to us with their little hands-that were murdered as a result of this therapy. We must respect their lives more than the life of suffering humans, even humans that are former American presidents. I wish him good luck during his long convalescence in England." Rayilyn Brown Board Member AZNPF Arizona Chapter National Parkinson's Foundation [log in to unmask] ---------------------------------------------------------------------- To sign-off Parkinsn send a message to: mailto:[log in to unmask] In the body of the message put: signoff parkinsn