Stem Cells - The Hope and the Hype

zer0skill writes to mention a CNN summary of a Time cover story. The Truth about Stem Cells deals with an increasingly politicized area of scientific inquiry, and likens the fight to those over global warming and evolution. From the article: "Five years after Bush announced that federal money could go to researchers only working on embryonic stem cell lines that scientists had already developed, Democrats hope to leverage the issue as evidence that they represent the reality-based community, running against the theocrats. States from Connecticut to California have tried to step in with enough funding to keep the labs going and slow the exodus of U.S. talent to countries like Singapore, Britain and Taiwan."

Re:i dont care for bush however...

[bhirsch]

Embryonic stem cell research has never been funded through direct federal government grants and any indirect funding has not been affected during Bush's presidency. Given the recent discoveries regarding Woo Suk Hwang's research and what is known of adult stem cells, there is plenty of reason not to throw federal money at more research. If embryonic stem cells were truly so promising, I would imagine that more companies would be pursuing them.

Re:i dont care for bush however...

[Anonymous Coward]

i mean no other pres spent money on embrionic stem cell research, clinton, bush 1, etc.

From wikipedia:

In 1995, the NIH Human Embryo Research Panel advised the Clinton administration to permit federal funding for research on embryos left over from in vitro fertility treatments and also recommended federal funding of research on embryos specifically created for experimentation. In response to the panel's recommendations the Clinton administration, citing moral and ethical concerns, declined to fund research on embryos created solely for research purposes,[5] but did, however, agree to fund research on left-over embryos created by in vitro fertility treatments. At this point, the Congress intervened and passed the Dickey Amendment in 1995 (the final bill, which included the Dickey Amendment, was signed into law by Clinton) which prohibited all federal funding for research that resulted in the destruction of an embryo regardless of the source of that embryo. The Dickey Amendment remains the law to this day.

In 1998, privately funded research led to the breakthrough discovery of hESC (Human Embryonic Stem Cells). This prompted the Clinton Administration to re-examine guidelines for federal funding of embryonic research. In 1999, the president's National Bioethics Advisory Commission recommended that hESC harvested from embryos discarded after in vitro fertility treatments, but not from embryos created expressly for experimentation be eligible for federal funding[5]. Even though embryos are always destroyed in the process of harvesting hESC the Clinton Administration decided that it would be permissible under the Dickey Amendment to fund hESC research as long as such research did not itself directly cause the destruction of an embryo. Therefore, HHS issued its proposed regulation concerning hESC funding in 2001. Enactment of the new guidelines was delayed by the incoming Bush administration which decided to reconsider the issue.

President George W. Bush announced, on August 9, 2001 that federal funds, for the first time, would be made available for hESC research on currently existing stem cell lines; however, the Bush administration chose not to permit funding for research on hESC cell lines not currently in existence, thus limiting federal funding to research in which "the life-and-death decision has already been made" [6]. The Bush Administration's guidelines differ from the Clinton Administration guidelines which did not distinguish between currently existing and not-yet-existing hESC. Both the Bush and Clinton guidelines agree that the federal government should not fund hESC research that directly destroys embryos.

In short: The Clinton administration attempted twice to fund stem cell research to an extent greater than that which the Bush administration has allowed, but was blocked in doing so by first the Republican congress and then the incoming administration of George W. Bush.

Re:Evolution, Global Warming, and Stem Cell Resear

[Stoutlimb]

"Evolution is a theory."

By saying that, you confuse "sound scientific theory" with "just a theory" or "cockamamie theory", which is what the public thinks when you say "It's just a theory". It's strong enough of a theory that it might as well be fact for all intents and purposes. Quit giving ammo to the luddites.

Re:Why has nobody explained...

[LordLucless]

As I understand it, embryonic stem cells are better to do research with because they are less differentiated than adult stem cells. An embryonic stem cell can progress into any other type of cell; skin, hair, bone, muscle, whatever. Adult stem cells have a more limited range of cells they can develop into, based on where they were harvested. Embyronic stem cells have a greater potential. I have also heard that because of this, they are easier to perform research on. It may be possible to discover something more quickly researching on embryonic cells, and then translate this discovery over to adult stem cells for use in therepeutics.

However, in current therepeutic terms, adult stem cells are better. For one, embryonic stem cells have had a tendancy to develop into tumors. For another, adult stem cells can be harvested from the patient himself, meaning there is no chance of the patients immune system rejecting the therapy. Since current techniques for harvesting embryonic stem cells involve the destruction of the embryo, its not likely you'll be able to be treated with cells from yourself.

For the record, I disagree with embryonic stem cell research.

Re:i dont care for bush however...

[Anonymous Coward]

How many of those specifically referred to using human embryonic stem cells? The problem is that federally funded scientists are limited to the current cells lines, all of which a) carry genetic abnormalities, and b) have been cultured using murine feeder cells. Both characteristics make the existing hESCs relatively unsuitable for basic research, and absolutely unsuitable for in vivo experiments on humans.

At this point, the US has already lost the race. A number of our leading scientists in the stem cell field have left the country or are planning to move within the next year. We're a good 4-5 years behind both Europe and Asia and, in this field, even a six month lag spells doom for a research program (if you don't publish first, you don't publish at all). Even if federal funding for hESC work were reinstated, the scientists would be unable to get funding simply because we're so far behind.

Sorry for posting as AC ... can't remember password right now.

Re:If we can just show...

[StikyPad]

Well, I didn't read the CNN version, but TOFA [time.com] from which the CNN summary was written had an unsavory little tidbit:

Extracting knowledge from embryos that would otherwise be wasted is one thing, but scientists admit that moving forward would require a much larger supply of fresh, healthy embryos than fertility clinics could ever provide. And once you start asking people about creating embryos for the purpose of experimenting on them, the support starts to slow down.

The Bible does say something

[mikearthur]

I'm a Christian, but for stem cell research, but to say the Bible does say something on the matter.

"Surely I was sinful at birth, sinful from the time my mother conceived me." - Psalm 51:5

"Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart; I appointed you as a prophet to the nations." - Jeremiah 1:5

"for he [John the Baptist] will be great in the sight of the Lord. He [John the Baptist] is never to take wine or other fermented drink, and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit from his mother's womb" - Luke 1:15

I don't think these verses say conclusively that that means we are have souls as embroyos, or I would be against stem cell research, but I do think they help to show why for some Christians (and for the first two Old Testament verses) Jews or Muslims may not find this a clear-cut issue.