[lotuseclat79]

Why Science Can't Save the GOP.

The stem-cell breakthrough doesn't make up for six years of hypocrisy and lost research

-- Tom

[poochee]

Kinsley makes good points!

[lotuseclat79]

Standing in the Way of Stem Cell Research
Article here.

A new way to trick skin cells into acting like embryos changes both everything and nothing at all. Being able to reprogram skin cells into multipurpose stem cells without harming embryos launches an exciting new line of research. It's important to remember, though, that we're at square one, uncertain at this early stage whether souped-up skin cells hold the same promise as their embryonic cousins do.

Far from vindicating the current U.S. policy of withholding federal funds from many of those working to develop potentially lifesaving embryonic stem cells, recent papers in the journals Science and Cell described a breakthrough achieved despite political restrictions. In fact, work by both the U.S. and Japanese teams that reprogrammed skin cells depended entirely on previous embryonic stem cell research.

-- Tom

[Fyzbo]

I've been complaining about this for a long time now.

Scientist: Hey this test tube contains cells that could cure tons of diseases.
President: Don't touch that, it's immoral. You can't use it in your research.
Scientist: Why not? It's just going to get thrown away.
President: Because I said so!

Completely stupid. It makes me sick just thinking about it.

The issue has been agony for many Republicans, torn between the majority of voters, eager for the benefits of this scientific advance, and the small but intense minority who believe that a clump of a few dozen cells floating in a petri dish has the same human rights as you or I.

I don't believe there is anyone against stem cell research, just those who are not fully educated.

[valis]

Originally Posted by Fyzbo

I don't believe there is anyone against stem cell research, just those who are not fully educated.

complete and utter agreeance. But the scary part is to take it one step further; they are the ones in charge.....

[Fyzbo]

Eventually stem cell research will make a huge medical break through and all those who appose it right now will look like fools. That or they will quickly flip flop and no one will realize.

[Fyzbo]

http://www.liebertpub.com/prdetails.aspx?pr_id=593

New Rochelle, NY, December 19, 2007—In a groundbreaking experiment published in Cloning & Stem Cells, scientists from International Stem Cell (ISC) Corp. derived four unique embryonic stem cell lines that open the door for the creation of therapeutic cells that will not provoke an immune reaction in large segments of the population. The stem cell lines are “HLA-homozygous,” meaning that they have a simple genetic profile in the critical areas of the DNA that code for immune rejection. The lines could serve to create a stem cell bank as a renewable source of transplantable cells for use in cell therapy to replace damaged tissues or to treat genetic and degenerative diseases.

Another step closer to a medical breakthrough with the help of embryonic stem cells.

[lotuseclat79]

Stem cell research from an ethical point of view.

Stem cell research and the potential use of human embryonic stem cells in clinical therapy is a controversial issue which splits both scientific and public opinion. The current conflict over embryonic stem cells throughout the world deals particularly with the ethical implications of this promising, but delicate subject and the scientific manipulation of human life in its early stages of development. It is a symbolic struggle over the whole future of developmental biology – over how we will proceed with a wide range of research on human development. Alternative methods for gaining embryonic stem cells such as the Altered Nuclear Transfer (ANT) method developed by William B. Hurlbut, M.D., a member of The President's Council on Bioethics in Washington, D.C., are considered important steps torward embryonic stem cell research.

It is in this context that the new Springer book Stem Cells, Human Embryos and Ethics: Interdisciplinary Perspectives provides insight into this recent debate from several relevant fields. A medical and biological angle dealing with new technological possibilties in medical research and putative clinical therapy is presented as well as an ethical point of view including philosophical and theological approaches regarding the moral status of human embryos.

The various chapters of the book focus on one main problem: Is it acceptable from an ethical point of view to use stem cells from human embryos for scientific research and clinical therapy? And what are the weaknesses and strengths of various opinions and positions when they are critically evaluated? Moreover the book discusses several sub-problems strongly related to this topic, i. e. when does any individual human being begin or at what stage development does a human organism become entitled to the moral and legal protection which we give to the life of human adults?

Based on a two-year research project led by editor Lars Østnor, professor of systematic theology at MF Norwegian School of Theology in Oslo, the book is a comprehensive collection of papers covering all major aspects of the ethical debate presented in an unbiased way. Instead of presenting just on opinion like many monographic books on stem cell research ethics do, the various chapters all together give a multifaceted and balanced treatment of the subject allowing readers to examine the opinions of both religious and scientific scholars side by side.

-- Tom

[lotuseclat79]

Stem cell breakthrough gets closer to the clinic.

The technology for versatile, grow-in-a-dish transplant tissue took a step toward clinical use Thursday when researchers announced they have found a safe way to turn skin cells into stem cells.

Researchers say the method is so promising they hope to apply for approval to begin clinic trials by the middle of next year.

"This is the first safe method of generating patient specific stem cells," said study author Robert Lanza, the chief scientific officer at Stem Cell & Regenerative Medicine International.

-- Tom

[Knotbored]

I am a little confused about how the discussion about witholding federal funds from an unproven and potentially unethical proceedure seems to always digress into blaming the bible thumping super-right political class.
1. Medical research funds are limmited and so much more evidence exists for stem cell from adults and placenta that those funds should not be depleted.
2. The potential for huge profits by pharmacutical companies if there was likely a high potential for success on juvenile stem cells.
3. Every other profit by those same companies (drug companies) is criticized by both political parties. They are wealthy adventures and need no federal funding if sucess is likely.

[lotuseclat79]

How Stem Cells Work.

A stem cell is essentially the building block of the human body. In this article, we will look at stem cells, find out how they work, discover their potential to treat disease and get inside the fierce debate surrounding their research and use.

-- Tom

[Gabriel]

Originally Posted by Knotbored

I am a little confused about how the discussion about witholding federal funds from an unproven and potentially unethical proceedure seems to always digress into blaming the bible thumping super-right political class.

Maybe because they jump up and down a lot about the ethics of the proceedure.

[pyritechips]

If America was a secular state then stem cell research wouldn't be an issue.

[TooBad]

Originally Posted by pyritechips

If America was a secular state then stem cell research wouldn't be an issue.

That may qualify as the dumbest statement you have ever made.

[lotuseclat79]

The kind of stem cell therapies achievable is amply illustrated in the following article:
Gene Defect Corrected in Human Stem Cells.

New research outlines a path toward new therapies with induced pluripotent stem cells.


Correcting cells: Scientists corrected the genetic deficits in cells from patients with Fanconi anemia and then reprogrammed them into induced pluripotent stem cells. The cells can then be coaxed to differentiate into red blood cells. (Colonies of blood cells are shown at the bottom of the image.) Credit: Juan Carlos Izpisua Belmonte

-- Tom