Maybe This Will End The Argument

There has been a long running and largely heated discussion over the use of embryonic stem cells in medical research and the development of treatments for some of humanity's most challenging diseases.  The possibility for pluripotential stem cells to be manipulated for cure and/or amelioration of the ravages of, for example, Alzheimer's disease is exciting to scientists and lay persons alike.  There are adult stem cells that can be harvested, and in fact the adult cells have been used more successfully to this point (references).  In search of a more powerful magic bullet advocates of stem cell research have held out embryonic cells, the least diffentiated cells, as the great hope for future research.

But cloning and embryonic stem cell research present a moral problem.  Pro-life observors and bioethicists have been troubled by what is seen as disregard for the potential human lives that are the destroyed embryos, and by the potential for abuse that cloning represents.  Contrary to the way the pro-life view is sometimes presented, there is no problem with use of stem cells that do not involve the creation and/or destruction of a human embryo, as this statement indicates.

Those in favor of the use of embryonic stem cells point out that the embryos they propose using are excess from fertility clinics, and that they'd be destroyed regardless.  In this view the embryo, which would otherwise be discarded, is more valued in that it may provide a tremendous benefit to society.

Over time, though, scientists have become innovative in trying to advance the cause of medicine while respecting the creation of human life, and as a result the competing viewpoints may become irrelevant.  We may indeed be able to have our cake and eat it, too, as a German project is trying to turn this turmoil into mush.  The team of scientists seem to have discovered a way to produce embryonic stem cells without embryos.

German scientists said yesterday that they have created cells similar to embryonic stem cells without using embryos, suggesting a way that stem cell research might advance without the controversy that has surrounded it.

The team of scientists removed sperm-producing stem cells from mice and transformed them into cells that appear to be identical to embryonic stem cells, which can become any type of cell in the body and which lead to new treatments for a variety of diseases.

If the same technique can be adapted to human cells, scientists would not need to use frozen embryos to create the equivalent of embryonic stem cells, and they would not need to clone stem cells -- the two approaches most scientists have been investigating.

Scientists have suggested other ways of avoiding the ethical controversy around embryonic stem cell research. But the new results electrified the scientific community yesterday because the results provided the most convincing evidence yet that doctors may be able to take cells from a patient and turn them into any tissue their body needs, without creating or destroying an embryo.

Now, obviously this is an early result, and the technique, if workable, will need to be refined and perfected.  But this could indeed end a bitter and divisive argument if the cells produced are the equivalent of embryonic stem cells - or better.  Let's keep our fingers crossed, and remember never to underestimate the ingenuity of man.

NIH Stem Cell Home Page

Linked to Wizbang's COTT LVI.

Comments

[Anna]

That would be great if it will work the way they hope.