Happy 10th birthday, stem cell research!
Stem-cells hit the headlines almost exactly 10 years ago. (link)
The first report that the human cells had been isolated and grown by scientists at the University of Wisconsin-Madison appeared in the journal Science, triggering a decade of fierce debate and great hope.
In 2001, President Bush passed an executive order banning executive order banning federal research funding for new human embryonic stem cell lines and effectively limiting funding to research on the 11-odd known lines at that point. Per today’s report, this is one of the executive orders that President-elect Obama is reviewing, hinting at certain quick changes that he hopes to make once he is in office. From CNN’s report, Obama advisor John Podesta is quoted:
“As a candidate, Senator Obama said that he wanted all the Bush executive orders reviewed and decide which ones should be kept and which ones should be repealed and which ones should be amended, and that process is going on. It’s been undertaken,” Podesta said. (link)
Personally, I am really happy that the President-elect is reviewing this specific executive order along with others like offshore drilling. When President Bush passed the executive order in 2001, it had some far-reaching consequences. As the authors of an excellent book on this subject “The Stem Cell dilemma” explain, we are on the edge of the age of “biorenaissance”
“At the dawn of this new century, we are entering a biorenaissance as far reaching in science, medicine, and technology as the Renaissance was in art, architecture, and exploration”
( I heartily recommend this book as a primer for anyone who is interested in knowing more on stem cells)
The Bush executive order resulted in reduced funding for stem cell research in the US and private funding has been relatively muted because of fear that legislation could outlaw research. As a result, it can be argued that the US stands in danger of losing its scientists and research leadership to countries in Europe where the policy has been far more flexible.
I do not mean to ridicule the very real ethical and moral dilemmas that confront scientists and leaders when making decisions surrounding cutting edge biotech research. Mary Shelly was very prescient when she wrote Frankenstein! I believe that bioethics is an important and emerging field and that more colleges and research institutions should increase focus on bioethics as a discipline. But we cannot let religious dogma stand in the way of scientific research else we are back to the Middle ages – remember the Galileo affair? I do believe that the view that “life begins at conception” and using a blastocyst for research is tantamount to murder is an extreme one.
“The only way you get an embryonic stem cell is to kill a 5-day-old human,” said Dr. Willke, a retired obstetrician and family physician, referring to the blastocysts used in research (link)
This leads us to murky ethical waters for pretty much the same argument is made by the pro-lifers to try and limit women’s reproductive rights. 5 days or 13 days (which is the limit when a embryo can be used in some European countries) are arbitrary lines drawn in the sand. Until a universal definition of “life” can be agreed upon, I have very real concerns over religious objections dictating public policy on life-saving research.
While it is a fact that advances in science may some day mean that embryonic research will not be required, given the ability to generate pluripotent (cells that can generate any differentiated cell) stem cells from human skin or wisdom teeth – that day is still far away. Meanwhile, research on embryonic stem cells is required to lay the foundation to what could one day be a cure for diseases like cancer and Parkinson’s disease. Cures that may save millions.
So if the one thing that the President elect does when he takes office in January is to repeal that executive order on stem cell research funding – I’ll be cheering!
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