eth-i-cal: (adj.) 1. Relating to morals, especially as concerning human conduct. 2. Morally correct.
le-gal: (adj.) 1. Of or based on law. 2. Appointed or required by law. 3. Permitted by law.
so-cial: (adj.) 1. Of or relating to society and its organization. 2. Concerned with the mutual relations of human beings. 3. Living in organized communities.
pol-i-cy: (n.) 1. Course or principle of action adopted or proposed by a government, party, business or individual, etc.
Definitions adapted from the Oxford Desk Dictionary and Thesaurus.
Stem Cell Research: Beyond Hype, Real Hope
The three broad categories of mammalian stem cells exist: embryonic stem cells, derived from blastocysts, adult stem cells, which are found in adult tissues, and cord blood stem cells, which are found in the umbilical cord.
In a developing embryo, stem cells are able to differentiate into all of the specialized embryonic tissues.
In adult organisms, stem cells and progenitor cells act as a repair system for the body, replenishing specialized cells.
As stem cells can be readily grown and transformed into specialised cells with characteristics consistent with cells of various tissues such as muscles or nerves through cell culture, their use in medical therapies has been proposed.
In particular, embryonic cell lines, autologous embryonic stem cells generated through therapeutic cloning, and highly plastic adult stem cells from the umbilical cord blood or bone marrow are touted as promising candidates.
Adult stem cells are undifferentiated cells found throughout the body that divide to replenish dying cells and regenerate damaged tissues.
Also known as somatic stem cells, they can be found in children, as well as adults. A great deal of adult stem cell research has focused on clarifying their capacity to divide or self-renew indefinitely and their differentiation potential.
Stem Cell Analysis
Stem cells may be defined as 'undifferentiated cells whose daughter cells have the potential to differentiate into other cell types'. Stem cells have been identified in many adult tissues including the haematopoietic system, neural system, cardiovascular system, breast, skin, prostate and pancreas. Adult stem cell are said to be multipotent in that they can, under the right conditions, give rise to several cell types. Embryonic stem cells, however, are termed totipotent in that they can give rise to every cell type in the organism. Stem cells are:
Rare
Have specific niches
Have extensive proliferative capacity
Have the ability to self-renew
Have a clonal, multilineage differentiation capacity
Are capable of engraftment and functional restoration in vivo.
We are interested in stem cells because they are potential targets for therapeutic intervention and prevention of diseases such as cancer. It is possible to use a variety of flow cytometric strategies to identify and isolate stem cells and those in use in our Laboratory are based on: the ability of stem cells to efflux certain dyes notably Hoechst 33342; their antigen expression; their cell cycle status and their functionality. More about the specific techniques can be found by clicking on the relevant link.
Life Legal Defense Foundation supports ethical stem cell research, such as stem cell research using adult and umbilical cord stem cells, which have already produced many cures and therapies.
Quotations:
"...it is ridiculous for people who have already decided that it is moral to kill babies in the womb to show some squeamishness about destroying human embryos in a petri dish. Hell, man, once you decide to become a child-killer, their ages no longer matter. Or the numbers. Damnation of your soul is completed with the first one." Charley Reese 1
"...research involving human pluripotent stem cells...promises new treatments and possible cures for many debilitating diseases and injuries, including Parkinson's disease, diabetes, heart disease, multiple sclerosis, burns and spinal cord injuries. The NIH believes the potential medical benefits of human pluripotent stem cell technology are compelling and worthy of pursuit in accordance with appropriate ethical standards." National Institutes of Health news release. 2
"Cal Thomas' article against stem cell research....is not particularly useful, because it does not deal with his fundamental belief that human personhood begins at conception. Similarly, articles by medical groups that promote stem cell research are not helpful, because they do not touch on their fundamental belief that embryos are not human persons. If there is to be any hope of resolving these issues, we must debate when human personhood begins. If we can reach a near consensus on this, then abortion, in-vitro fertilization, stem cell research and other debates will neatly resolve themselves." Comment letter to the Jewish World Review
The web site of CovenantNews.com on 2001-AUG-28 featured articles about stem cell research. Headings were:: "Murder by Abortion," "Get Your Human Sacrifice Grant Here," The file name is "murder.htm."
Research in the human stem cell field grew out of findings by Canadian scientists Ernest A. McCulloch and James E. Till in the 1960s
Stem cell treatments
Medical researchers believe that stem cell therapy has the potential to radically change the treatment of human disease.
A number of adult stem cell therapies already exist, particularly bone marrow transplants that are used to treat leukaemia.
In the future, medical researchers anticipate being able to use technologies derived from stem cell research to treat a wider variety of diseases including cancer, parkinson's disease, spinal cord injuries, and muscle damage, amongst a number of other impairments and conditions.
However, there still exists a great deal of social and scientific uncertainty surrounding stem cell research, which could possibly be overcome through public debate and future research.
Stem cells, however, are already used extensively in research, and some scientists do not see cell therapy as the first goal of the research, but see the investigation of stem cells as a goal worthy in itself.
