Solution = Adult stem cells?
Removes the need to destroy new life.
Any propellerheads out there care to explain why adult stem cells cannot be used?

The fact that a lot of injuries etc could be repaired by a single injection is amazing no more surgeries for damaged muscles, ligaments, tendons, being able to repair spinal cords. I think the good far out weighs the bad, and science should be allowed to continue there research.

ADS said...

Ok, you say Adult stem cell are different how? can they be used in research to the same degree as embryonic cells or not? ..........

At the risk of being branded a propellerhead , (a simple google search will give you plenty of info on this), adult stem cells seem to have some limitations in what can be done with them compared to embryonic stem cells. Both are being agressively pursued, however embryonic are the ones they can work with at present. http://stemcells.nih.gov/info/basics/basics5.asp

I don't particularly want to weigh in on right to life arguments, however as a parent with a son with a genetic disorder that will likely end his life before he reaches 10, I personally don't have room for alternative views.

The only cure for my son (and many more like him) lies with progress in stem cell technology. They are very close, have a solution and want to start trials. This is being hampered and slowed to a crawl through limitations in the availability of embyonic stem cells and what can be done with them.

I am happy for someone to provide arguments about the rights for a group of cells in a petrie dish that were never going to enter a womb - but I will ask them to bring that dish and show it to my precociously intelligent 3yo son in his wheelchair and tell him why they believe the contents of that dish have more rights to life than he does.

Smedg said...

adult cells are already differentiate. Ie, they are already what they are going to be. some are hair some are skin some are heart cells etc.

embryonic cells are undifferentiated. Can be anything.

This is a really complex debate. Keen to see if someone with some knowledge of the field has a view. Chance of another massive mutipager if there is some knowledge amongst us seabreezer. (There usually seems to be for some reason)

The only thing stifling this whole process of stem cell, and any genetic research, is the fact that it is open to corruption and the idiosyncrasies of commerce.

If there was a one hundred percent guarantee that in no way would the technology be put to ill use or unethical processes adopted and the nay sayers were happy on that point then we would only be left with the fundamentalists of all religions who currently oppose it.

Reckon we are a way off getting there if the Big Pharma experience is anything to go by but it is bloody fascinating.

I have a mate that clones stuff, fascinating

Barn your argument makes no sense.

These embryos are life, individual life. They have their own individual DNA different to the parent cells.

I guess that's one way of defining where life begins. Other people have other ways.

Defining the point at which life begins is a bit like showing someone a page that grades consistently from white, through grey, to black; and then asking them to identify the single point at which white changes to black. To say that life begins when unique DNA has been formed seems a bit simplistic. Personally I'm against murder, but I sure as hell have nothing against someone terminating a single, fertilised egg cell.

Sorry Funky, but I think you are being a bit broad. I agree boundaries and guidelines need to be set, but if you do a bit of research there is a LOT of work being done on ethical issues surrounding genetics. Banning stem cell research on that basis is a bit like saying we should have banned the wright brothers because aircraft will be used for bombing.

In the immediate future stem cell research will be used to cure disease, not create super races. If you are afraid of genitic manipulation and where it is leading, then banning stem cell research is not going to halt that progression. It is only one avenue. And don't think for a minute that China is not pouring funds to catch up with the US on this, and I can guarantee that they will have no qualms doing whatever they want.

I hear you on population growth, but also bear in mind that the growth is coming from the 3rd world masses, not the 1st world. 1st world countries are marginal on birth rates or even declining (japan). IV and medical advances actually will help stabilise the population not increase it.

dirtyharry said...

These embryos are life, individual life. They have their own individual DNA different to the parent cells.

I guess that's one way of defining where life begins. Other people have other ways.

Defining the point at which life begins is a bit like showing someone a page that grades consistently from white, through grey, to black; and then asking them to identify the single point at which white changes to black. To say that life begins when unique DNA has been formed seems a bit simplistic. Personally I'm against murder, but I sure as hell have nothing against someone terminating a single, fertilised egg cell.

I guess we see things differently on this point. If a fertilised egg is left to follow nature and implant in the mothers uterus this embryo could develop into a child. I for one do not want to mess with this process.
There must be another way using cord blood as a source of stemcells or adult stemcells???
This is an important ethical and scientific debate. To find cures for many terrible afflictions is a worthwhile goal. We should I believe, act ethically and in a considered fashion as we are dealing with the building blocks of humanity.

ginger pom said...

Please can the non-vegans tell me what's wrong with ending life?

Death.


Its our biggest killer

doggie said...

Death.


Its our biggest killer

Life.

Nobody gets out alive.

God, morals, what a tangled web.

I have to agree that the prohibition against the use of embryonic stem cells is absurd.

However I seem to recall that they can harvest placental stem cells. Or is my dementia tricking me?