I am writing my first blog post today to inform readers on an issue that I feel very passionate about. That issue is stem cell research. It is a controversial subject of which both positions have reasonable arguments for its legality or morality. Any reader can probably assert that I am in support of expanded federal funding for stem cell research. However, I will try to address opposing views as long as those views are accurate. Considering that stem cell research involves complicated biological processes and several religious leaders have given it a bad reputation, the goal of this post is to clarify these misrepresentations. (The information is from a mini medical presentation that was given at UNMC).
To start off, what are stem cells? Stems cells are undifferentiated cells in the body that renew indefinitely, divide continuously, and produce specialized progeny (i.e. muscle cells, heart cells, neurons). They are the building blocks of the body that differentiate into families of cells to form organs. Found in nearly all tissues of the body, stem cells manage the repair of normal wear and tear of the body. The ability of stem cells to produce different kinds of cells can range from totipotent (able to produce all 220 cell types) to unipotent (able to produce one thing) with many intermediate potencies.

Stem cells are studied primarily for their use in regenerative medicine, which is the creation of cells or organs to replace tissues lost to disease or injury. Stem cells could help replenish cells killed by disease in the body that do not naturally regenerate. For example, stem cells could produce more nervous system tissues that die from neurodegenerative diseases, such as Alzheimer’s disease, stroke, Multiple sclerosis, and Parkinson disease. Heart cells are another example of cells that do not naturally regenerate. Beyond, regenerative diseases, stem cell research could lead to substancial scientific discoveries. They provide models for stuyding early human development, birth defects, genetic disorders, and drug development. If scientists could devise a method of using stem cells to test drugs, animal testing and pharmacuetical costs could be reduced. In addition, stem cell have many similarities to cancerous cells (both rare, self-renew, differentiate, migrate, and have great amplification potential) and could be a human celluar model used for curing cancer. Blood-forming stem cells of the bone marrow are already used to treat diseases. Stem cells have contributed to regeneration after tissue transplants. Numerous animal studies have shown that stem cells can indeed integrate into damaged tissues and function properly.

There are three types of stem cells: adult stem cells, embyronic stem cells, and somatic cell nuclear transferase.

· Adult stem cells are the more specialized cells that live in the majority of tissues that generate more cells for organs. Bone marrow, umbilical cord blood, and placenta are available sources of adult stem cells. The problem with this source is that they are rare and difficult to isolate, grow poorly in culture, not readily available, and are not totipotent.

· Embryonic stem cells can produce all the cells in the body. They are obtained from the inner cell mass of a blastocyst (about five days after fertilization). The blastocysts are microscopic and organ formation has not yet started. The cells are not implanted in a uterus, because once in the uterus, cell signaling occurs and the stem cells lose their totipotency. To obtain embryonic stem cells, in vitro fertilization is preformed by combining a sperm and an egg in a dish.

· The last type of stem cells is created by somatic cell nuclear transfer (SCNT). Nuclear transfer involves removing the DNA of an egg and exchanging it for the DNA of a patient’s cell. The egg is then coaxed into dividing into a blastocyst. These cells will have an identical genetic match to the patient, which would prevent tissue rejection.

On August 9, 2002, President Bush put restrictions on the stem cells which can be used in research with federal funding. Stem cell lines must be derived prior to 8/9/2001, from excess embryos created only for reproductive purposes, obtained following appropriate informed consent, and obtained without financial inducement. The NIH Stem Cell Registry has 22 lines that were available as of November 2006 and at least 200 unapproved lines. There are numerous concerns regarding the quality of the approved lines.

Multiple surveys from reputable sources show public support for stem cell research:

USA Today (7-25-06): 56%+; The Pew Research Center (8-3-05): 57%+; CBS News Poll (7-13-05): 56%+; Wall Street Journal (6-7-05): 74%+; ABC News/Washington Post (4-21-05): 63%+; Civil Society Institute (2-15-05): 63%+; Catholic voter poll (7-04): 72%+

There was bipartisan support for stem cell research in July 2006:

House Resolution 810: 238-194 support vote; Senate support for 810: 63-37 support vote

Despite support from prominent Republicans Frist, Lugar, Hatch, Lott, Chafee, McCain, and Specter, President Bush vetoed the stem cell bill. Is Bush being representative of the country’s views or is he relying on his religious influences?

The following is a list of the ethical issues of stem cell research:

For:

• Embyronic stem cells are saved from an embryo destined to be destroyed. Isn’t it better that blastocysts be used in valuable research?
• Fulfils the ethical obligation to alleviate human suffering
• Embryos used are microscopic, have no nervous system, and lack differentiated tissue.
• (Somatic Cell Nuclear Transfer) research or therapeutic cloning does not involve sperm, conception or implantation and may provide unique basic and clinical applications.

Against:

• Embryos are destroyed to recover embryonic stem cells.
• No end justifies the means when embryos are destroyed; this amounts to murder
• There is a risk of commercial exploitation of the human participants in the research
• Slippery slope argument: Embryonic stem cell research will eventually lead to reproductive cloning. If a blastocyst from nuclear transfer in implanted into a uterus, a reproductive clone may develop, but the procedure is inefficient and serious genetic and biological problems may occur.
• (Somatic Cell Nuclear Transfer) All forms of cloning are simply unethical.

In summary, I just want to reiterate that adult stem cells cannot serve as a substitute for embryonic stem cells, because they differ in potency and abilities to grow in culture. Furthermore, embryonic stem cells WILL NOT encourage abortions and do not come from aborted fetuses, because the blastocysts cannot be implanted in the womb or they lose potency. Many times the blastocysts are left over from in vitro fertilization (IVF) procedures. Usually, hundreds of blastocysts are made for IVF and only some are implanted in the womb. Eventually the cells will have to be disposed so why not use the excess blastocysts to help save lives?

Regarding the claim that stem cells from nuclear transfer will lead to cloning, it would only become a clone if the blastocysts were implanted into a uterus. This would be highly unethical, because as observed from cloning Dolly the sheep, clones do not live a normal lifespan. (It is due to a genetic component call telomeres). Besides, unlike stem cell research, human cloning does not fulfill ethical obligations or have widespread benefits.

The current restrictions on stem cells are limiting the field’s potential for success. The stems cells approved for federal grant research are too few, too old, too contaminated, and have accumulated too much DNA damage. Although privately funded stem cell research is not restricted, federal restriction complicate things in labs with both federal and private funding. Plus, federal funding is a major source if not the majority of funding for scientific research, even though our immense military expenditures have decreased the budget for grants.

For those of you who argue that nothing of great significance has become of stem cell research, I beg to differ but I would suggest that you give it time. No one wins a Nobel Prize overnight. With or without the United States government’s support, stem cell research will advance in the world and produce highly beneficial advancements. I urge everyone to support efforts to expand stem cell research.

Much of my information came from a mini medical presentation at the University of Nebraska at Omaha. The presentation slides can be found on the UNMC website www.unmc.edu