stem cell advocacy

Stem Cell Advocacy

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Every person on earth has a personal stake in the endless possibilities of embryonic stem cells. Warehoused in fertility clinics throughout the world are embryos that hold the potential for a cure for heart disease, cancer, diabetes, Parkinson’s disease, ALS, and countless other diseases.

In 1998, biologist James Thompson from the University of Wisconsin in Madison succeeded in removing stemcells from spare embryos in fertility clinics and established the world’s first human stem cell line.

The human body is made up of 220 different types of cells. Each one has its own job to do. We have skin cells, nerve cells, brain cells, disease fighting cells, and many more. The thing that is so incredible about stem cells is that they can become any one of the 220 different types of cells found in human body. The word that describes this versatility is pluripotent.

When infertile couples want to have children, they can go to a fertility clinic and have in vitro fertilization. In vitro fertilization describes an egg and a sperm meeting outside of the body in a laboratory. When couples attempt IVF, many more eggs than they need are harvested and fertilized. Only eggs implanted in the uterus will become human lives. The spare embryos are frozen and kept in fertility clinics. They are considered to be medical waste.

Scientists discovered that if they allow the cells of these embryos to divide for 5-7 days, they form into group of cells called a blastocyst. The innermost cells of the blastocyst are the stem cells. They are extracted by scientists and cultured in a Petri dish. The Petri dish creates a favorable environment that allows these cells to divide over and over again infinitely. The dividing and multiplying cells develop into a stem cell line.

Scientists around the world are excited about stem cells because their potential is unlimited. New medications can be tested more safely on stem cells than they can in human studies. For example, scientists can use stem cells to replicate a type of cancer and test chemotherapy on the specific cancerous stem cells. They can use stem cells to repair cells or tissues that have been damaged by disease or injury. This treatment is called cell-based therapy. An example of a cell-based therapy is to inject embryonic stem cells into the heart to repair damage caused by a heart attack.

Eventually, scientists might even be able to grow entire organs in a laboratory to replace ones that have been damaged by disease or injury. Some of the diseases that may one day be treated with cell based therapy are: Parkinson’s disease, Multiple sclerosis, Birth defects, Alzheimer’s disease, Vision disorders, Diabetes, Cancer, heart disease, burns, spinal cord injuries.

President Bush has vetoed legislation that would have increased federal funding for stem cell research. Currently, the president has only allowed the National Institutes of Health to put 25.5 million dollars into researching embryonic stem cells. NIH’s total budget for research is $27 billion. And yet the government is only putting forth $25.5 million for embryonic stem cell research. Even though stem cell research holds the potential cure for the majority of all diseases and injuries that affect the United States and the rest of the world. This just does not make sense to me.

The opponents to embryonic stem cell research are well funded. They are determined to legislate against government funding of embryonic stem cell research. They feel the blastocyst is a human being and that any extraction of cells from a blastocyst is murder.

Even though over 100 million suffering people could benefit from this research, they state that it is never permissible to “do evil, that good may come of it.” They are against using embryos for research, but have no problem with simply disposing of embryos with medical waste from fertility clinics.

Imagine that your grandfather with Parkinson’s Disease can have stem cells injected into his brain that will create the dopamine that his brain cells can no longer make.

Imagine that cells can be injected into your friend with diabetes so his body can create the insulin it so desperately needs.

Minutes after your father has a heart attack, heart cells are injected into him to repair the damage done to his heart.

Your neighbor who is waiting for a donor kidney transplant can have his cells cloned into an actual kidney. This kidney will be made of his own cells, allowing him to avoid complications that come with a donor kidney.

Imagine that the brutal chemotherapy that your mother with breast cancer has to endure can be tested first on cancer cells that are still in a Petri dish, making sure that her treatment is safe and effective.

Imagine me getting up out of this chair and playing tennis again because stem cells have replaced the damaged cells in my spinal cord.

It is up to us as American citizens to contact our legislators to support stem cell research. We can do this by registering to vote and electing representatives that will support specific issues such as stem cell research. We can also write letters to our legislators asking for their support of certain bills to be passed such as the Christopher Reeve paralysis act, which focuses on getting government funding for stem cell research.

The Christopher Reeve Paralysis Foundation has an action network which will walk you through becoming a stem cell advocate.

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