Life-saving research without destroying life
Strides made in life-affirming research while destructive research lags behind

Throughout the national debate on human cloning and embryonic stem cell research, proponents of these destructive experiments have attempted to deceive the public over and over again. Overly eager scientists and politicians whose campaign chests are being filled by the biotechnology industry have claimed that embryonic stem cells are more likely to cure diseases and that the embryos created and slated for this deadly research aren't really alive. Erroneous statements like "only embryonic stem cells have the potential to repair vital organs" and "(cloned embryos are) only cellular life, they're not a human life" were and are widely circulated in newspapers and other media outlets across the country.

In truth, research involving embryonic stem cells taken from in-vitro fertilization clinics has yet to cure a single human of a single ailment. In animal experiments, they have however shown the dangerous ability to form cancerous tissue when transplanted into animal subjects. These cells also face the likelihood of being rejected by the patient's immune system.

Research where stem cells are removed from cloned embryos have shown even less potential to cure disease and some of the experiments with animals have been complete failures. Research involving cloned embryos will never cure millions of people as proponents have claimed. The physical (hundreds of millions of human eggs) and financial (billions upon billions of dollars) assets just aren't available. This fact would limit this treatment to the richest of the rich if, and it's a huge if, the research could actually cure people without giving them cancer.

On the other hand, research involving adult stem cells and stem cells from umbilical cords have already successfully treated people with lupus, leukemia, heart damage, severe combined immunodeficiency (SCID, also known as the "bubble boy" disease), scleromyxedema (a rare and possibly fatal skin disease), thalassaemia (a rare blood disorder), and Crohn's disease.

These cells have also been used to help stabilize and/or improve the symptoms of people with multiple sclerosis, Parkinson's, and stroke victims.

If embryonic stem cells had accomplished any one of the above mentioned miraculous feats then everyone of us would have read or heard about it, but adult stem cells don't get the celebrity status that their younger counterparts have become so accustomed to.

Other positive news includes a breakthrough by University of Minnesota researchers, who recently found a new type of adult stem cell that they christened "multipotent adult progenitor cells" or MAPCs. They found that these cells, which are located in bone marrow, are capable of being transformed into most if not all of the specialized cells in the human body.

Don't be fooled by the media's biased reporting and the fraudulent claims of individuals and groups which lack respect for human life. These embryos are alive and they are human. Research involving life-affirming adult stem cells isn't years behind but years ahead of research involving embryonic stem cells. Cures can be found without the destruction of human life and the cheapening of ethical standards.

 

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