Science 4300 Stem Cells Presentation: October 2008

Conclusion

Conclusion:

I. Stem cell research has the potential to be extremely beneficial in the treatment of a number of serious diseases, including Parkinson's, Alzheimer's, Lou Gehrig's, and others.

II. The use of stem cells in research has been hindered because of ethical concerns, stemming from the fact that they have the potential to develop into a human being.

III. New research is coming out involving skin cells, umbilical cord blood cells, and other adult cells which could potentially sidestep the ethical problems presented earlier.

Dilemma: Should Americans support politicians and policies which support using taxpayer dollars to use stem cell research to prolong and improve the quality of life for many sufferers of debilitating disease?
Or should such support be withheld on the grounds that all potential human life has value and rights, and should be respected as such?

(Alternate dilemma for liberals, said in jest: Can you admit that George W. Bush may have actually been right about something?)

Arguments Against Stem Cell Research

Value of Life

Uninhibited, stem cells have the potential to become human life; therefore they should be treated as though they were just as valuable as human life.

Better Alternatives

Other alternatives, such as umbilical cord blood and other adult stem cell techniques have been and could be used more effectively than embryonic stem cells. These should be used instead.

Scientific Flaws

Research has found that even cloned cells may be rejected by the body's immune system. In other cases, cancerous tumors have resulted.

Overstatement of Research Potential

Not only will it take years or decades to find potential cures for diseases from stem cell research, but in some cases, help may never come at all. In efforts to gain approval, proponents may have overhyped what stem cells are capable of doing; and the science may not be able to live up to expectations.

Slippery Slope

There is concern that stem cell research could lead to a shift in public perception of values. Reproductive cloning could gain widespread acceptance once stem cell use becomes commonplace. This could lead to a general devaluation of human life.

Arguments For Stem Cell Research

Utilitarianism

The potential benefits are greater than the potential costs; the ends justify the means.

Stem cells can potentially be used to treat:

Brain Damage
Cancer
Spinal cord injuries
Heart damage
Haematopoiesis (blood cell formation)
Baldness
Missing teeth
Deafness
Blindness and Vision Impairment
ALS (Lou Gehrig's Disease)
Graft vs. Host Disease/Crohn's Disease
Alzheimer's Disease
Multiple Sclerosis
Parkinson's Disease
and more. . .

Embryonic value

Embryos are not equivalent to human life in value. Most embryos are lost before implantation anyway.

Efficiency

The embryos in question are produced through in vitro fertilization, existing stem cells or abortions. They are going to be wasted or destroyed anyway. Shouldn't they be put to use?

Superiority

Embryonic Stem cells are more useful in treating diseases than Adult stem cells.

Beginning of life

Since the stem cells in question are at a stage prior to which multiple births are produced; you can't say that they constitute an individual human life. Human life, therefore, does not yet exist at this stage of development.

Political Background and Current Developments

Clinton Administration:

1995
The Dickey Amendment prohibits the Department of Health and Human Services from using federally appropriated funds for:

(1) the creation of a human embryo or embryos for research purposes; or

(2) research in which a human embryo or embryos are destroyed, discarded, or knowingly subjected to risk of injury or death greater than that allowed for research on fetuses in utero

1998
Human Embryonic Stem Cells discovered.

2001
Regulation regarding Clinton's decision to fund hESC research "as long as such research did not itself directly cause the destruction of an embryo" postponed pending reconsideration by incoming Bush administration.

August 9, 2001

President George W. Bush, in a nationwide speech, announces that he will allow federal funding for stem cell research only on 60 existing stem cell lines.

View speech

(8:40-9:20)

Text of speech

President Bush has since vetoed congressional legislation that would loosen these restrictions.

Current Developments:

In 2007, scientists, led by Dr. Robert Lanza, announced that they had created the first "human embryonic cell lines in existence that didn't result from the destruction of an embryo."

(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stem_cell_controversy#Policy_debate_in_the_United_States)

Also in 2007, scientists succeeded in reprogramming mouse skin cells back to the embryonic state. Both of these developments could potentially sidestep ethical concerns regarding stem cells.

(http://www.nytimes.com/2007/06/06/science/06cnd-cell.html?_r=2&oref=slogin&oref=slogin)

In fact, just yesterday, Doug Melton announced that Danwei Huangfu, a postdoctoral fellow in his Harvard Stem Cell Institute Lab, had stimulated skin cells to be able to be used as stem cells through chemical means, through the use of Valproic acid. This method eliminates the need for two of the four genes normally used in reprogramming experiments, both of which have been problematic as cancer-causing agents.

http://harvardscience.harvard.edu/foundations/articles/another-step-forward-cell-reprogramming

McCain and Obama Stances (From 16 August 2008 discussion with Rick Warren at his Saddleback Church):
(Obama to 1:09)

Background

1973--Roe v. Wade

Raises Issue:

1978--Louise Brown, First "Test Tube" Baby

Raises Issue: What about unused embryos created in the process? Do they have rights? Is it ethical to destroy them?

1997--Dolly the sheep successfully cloned