Life SA
Stem Cell Research
The only way to obtain embryonic stem cells is to kill the living human embryo. The embryos killed for their stem cells are about a week old and have grown to about 200 cells.
There are other ways of doing stem cell research. We can use adult tissue, placentas or umbilical cord blood. They are much more likely to work, and it would be more ethical.
“Embryonic stem cells are the most effective for treating disease” In reality, they’re not. Embryonic stem cells have not helped a single human patient or demonstrated any therapeutic benefit. By contrast, adult stem cells and other ethically acceptable alternatives have already helped hundreds of thousands of patients and new clinical uses expand almost weekly.
Conditions for which embryonic stem cells have helped human patients – None, these cells have never helped a human patient.
Two quotes from a workshop sponsored by the National Academy of Science’s Institute of Medicine in Washington DC, Stem Cells and the Future of Regenerative Medicine (22 June 01):
“There is no evidence of therapeutic benefit from embryonic stem cells” Marcus Grompe, MD, PhD, Department of Molecular and Medical Genetics, Oregon Health Sciences University. Dr Grompe is an expert in cell transplantation to repair damaged livers.
“There is no experience with embryonic stem cells in humans and very little in mice … all claims of therapeutic benefit from embryonic stem cells are conjectural” Bert Vogelstein, Professor of Oncology and Pathology at John Hopkins University, Chairman of the Institute of Medicine’s committee studying stem cell research.
Current clinical uses of Adult Stem Cells to help human patients
| Brain tumours | Type 1 Diabetes |
| Non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma | Renal cell carcinoma |
| Breast cancer | Solid tumours |
| Multiple myeloma | Cartilage and bone damage |
| Solid tumours | Testicular cancer |
| Ovarian cancer | Cardiac repair after heart attack |
| Neuroblastoma | Retinoblastoma |
| Blood and liver diseases | Osteogenesis imperfecta |
| Epstein-Barr virus infection | Corneal damage |
| Immumo-deficiencies | Anaemia |
| Juvenile and other rheumatoid arthritis | Stroke |
| Multiple sclerosis | Lupus |
http://stemcellresearch.org
It is claimed most people support stem cell research. But what type of stem cell research do they support? Stem cells that come from adult tissue, placentas, or umbilical cord blood can be retrieved without harming the donor. The only way to obtain embryonic stem cells, however, is to kill the living human embryo. Typically, poll questions do not make this distinction.
(Refer http://www.usccb.org/comm/archives/2001/01-101.htm)
When a survey was undertaken in the United States, people were asked if the government should fund stem cell research which requires destroying human embryos. 70% said No. And when asked to choose between funding stem cell research including embryonic stem cells vs stem cell research without embryonic stem cells, people supported the latter approach 67% to 18%. (International Communications Research, 8 June 2001). Would the Australian people be very different?
“Excess embryos are going to be discarded anyway” Today, parents can preserve “excess” embryos for future pregnancies as well as donate them to other couples. In a recent study 59% of parents who initially planned to discard their embryos after three years, changed their minds and chose another pregnancy or chose to donate to infertile couples. (New England Journal of Medicine, 5 July 2001.) The Australian experience has been that couples are very reluctant to consent to their embryos being used for destructive research.
What’s more, we now know that the scientists have themselves moved on to creating human embryos solely to destroy them for stem cells. So much for the “discarded” argument.
But what scientists or parents might do with the embryos is not the issue. The issue is: Should the government allow (and use taxpayers’ money for) research which requires destroying human embryos?
“Human embryos aren’t really human beings yet” The testimony of modern science is clear on this point. “At the moment the sperm cell of the human male meets the ovum of the female and the union results in a fertilised ovum (zygote), a new life has begun.”
(Refer Keith Moore, Essentials of Human Embryology (Toronto: Decker, 1988), p2; Ida Dox et al, The Harper Collins Illustrated Medical Dictionary (New York: Harper, 1993), p 146; TW Sadler, Langman’s Medical Embryology (7th ed, Baltimore: Williams & Wilkins 1995), p3; Bruce Carlson, Patten’s Foundations of Embryology (6th ed, New York: McGraw-Hill, 1996), p3.
For more research into the subject of stem cell research see the following sites:
http://www.ethicalstemcellresearch.blogspot.com/
http://www.closerlookatstemcells.org
Further reading on the following specific subjects can also be found:
March 2009 Q & A: FDA Approves First Clinical Trial of Human Embryonic Stem Cells, DoNoHarm
Q & A: Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells: Making Embryo Stem Cells Obsolete, DoNoHarm
May 2006 “Falling Behing” in Stem Cell Research? DoNoHarm
February 2006 The Real Lesson of the Korean Cloning Scandal, DoNoHarm
September 2005 Updated: The “Political Science” of Stem Cells
June 2005 Stem Cell Myths by Steve Chapman - Chicago Tribune
October 2004 Current Stem Cell Treatments: Adult v. Embryonic – Do No Harm
August 2004 Enhancing Stem Cell Transplants by David Secko -The Scientist
Skeletal Myogenic Differentiation of Mesenchymal Stem Cells Isolated from Human Umbilical Cord Blood, Stem Cells
July 2004 Mesenchymal Stem Cells Are Renotropic, Helping to Repair the Kidney and Improve Function in Acute Renal Failure, Journal of the American Society of Nephrology
Mesenchymal Stem Cells Can Be Differentiated Into Endothelial Cells In Vitro, Stem Cells
June 2004 The Legend of the 400,000 Embryos, DoNoHarm
Stem Cells Can Convert to Liver Tissue, Help Restore Damaged Organs, John Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center
May 2004 Nature Study: No Evidence of Embryonic Stem Cell Advantage in Treating Diabete, DoNoHarm
February 2004 Juvenile Diabetes Patients Need Real Hope, Not Hype, DoNoHarm
Researchers Look to Stem Cell Therapy and Bone Marrow Transplants to Find a Cure for Diabetes, American Society of Hematology
Study: Adult Mamalian Cells Can Dedifferentiate and Then Redifferentiate, Journal of the American Chemical Society
Study on Spleen Cells Curing Diabetes, Nature Reviews
November 2003 Adult Stem Cells Cure Diabetes in Mice, Science
Regenerative Medicine/Cellular Engineering for Diseases of the Head and Neck, DNA and Cell Biology (PDF)
October 2003 Neurogenesis and Brain Injury: Managing a Renewable Resource for Repair, Journal of Scientific Inquiry
September 2003 In Lung Research, Embryonic Stem Cells Again Play Catch-Up with Adult Stem Cells, DoNoHarm
July 2003 Adult Stem Cells by David Prentice - President’s Council on Bioethics
June 2003 Intravenous Administration of Human Umbilical Cord Blood Cells in a Mouse Model of Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis: Distribution, Migration, and Differentiation Journal of Hematotherapy & Stem Cell Research (PDF)
Current State Laws on Human Embryo Research, US Conference of Catholic Bishops
May 2003 Delayed Systemic Nogo-66 Receptor Antagonist Promotes Recovery from Spinal Cord Injury, The Journal of Neuroscience
April 2003 Transendocardial, Autologous Bone Marrow Cell Transplantation for Severe, Chronic Ischemic Heart Failure, AHA Journal
Glucagon-Like Peptide Converts Intestinal Epithelial Cells into Insulin-Producing Cells, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
Olfactory Tissue Transplant for Spinal Cord Injury, Paraplegia News
Treatment of Chronic Wounds With Bone Marrow Derived Cells, Journal of the American Medical Association
March 2003 Stem Cells to Build Muscle in Journal of Cell Biology, c.f. Study: JCB; Comment: JCB
Lithium Livens up Stem Cells, Nature
Stem Cells from Knee Joint Repair Muscle, Journal of Cell Biology
Umbilical Cord Blood Successfully Treating Thalassemia, SCD, The Journal of the American Society of Hematology, c.f. Comment: JASH
February 2003 Fetal Human Hematopoietic Stem Cells Can Differentiate Sequentially into Neural Stem Cells and Then Astrocytes In Vitro, Journal of Hematotherapy & Stem Cell Research (PDF)
Augmenting Cord Blood in the Lab, The Journal of the American Society of Hematology
Cord Blood Transplantation a Possibility for MDS Patients, The Journal of the American Society of Hematology
Neural Stem Cells: Plasticity, Functional Stability and Therapeutic Potential by A.L. Vescovi, et al. - World Federation of the Catholic Medical Associations
January 2003 Bone Marrow Stem Cells Can Create New Neurons in BioMedNet.com, c.f. National Academy of Sciences and Science
Reprogramming Immune Responses: Enabling Cellular Therapies and Regenerative Medicine in Stem Cells
Non-neural Regions of the Adult Human Eye: A Potential Source of Neurons? Investigative Ophthalmology and Visual Science
Bone Marrow Found to Have Cells to Repair the Pancreas, Journal of Clinical Investigation, c.f. Comment: JCI
Cardiac Allograft Acceptance after Localized Bone Marrow Transplantation by Isolated Limb Perfusion in Nonmyeloablated Recipients, Stem Cells
Human Umbilical Cord Blood as a Source of Transplantable Hepatic Progenitor Cells, Stem Cells
Multipotential Mesenchymal Stem Cells from Femoral Bone Marrow Near the Site of Osteonecrosis, Stem Cells
Angiogenesis in Ischaemic Myocardium by Intramyocardial Autologous Bone Marrow Mononuclear Cell Implantation, Lancet
Mautologous Bone Marrow Stem-Cell Transplantation for Myocardial Regeneration, Lancet
November 2002 First Case of Auto-Grafting of Neural Stem Cells into a Patient with PD, National Parkinson Foundation
Bone Marrow Stem Cells For Functional Kidney Cells at High Efficiency, The Journal of the American Society of Hematology
Donating Spare Embryos for Embryonic Stem Cell Research, American Society for Reproductive Medicine
October 2002 The Use of In Situ Bone Marrow Stem Cells for the Treatment of Various Degenerative Diseases, Medical Hypotheses
July 2002 Do the Math: Experimental Cloning Exploits Women, DoNoHarm
April 2002 Blood Vessel Cells From Embryonic Stem Cells: Catch-Up, Not Breakthrough, DoNoHarm
March 2002 Embryonic Stem Cell Research: A Reality Check, DoNoHarm
Treating Disease with Adult Stem Cells and Embryonic Stem Cells, DoNoHarm
Nobel Laureates’ Letter to President Bush Contains Misinformation and Omissions, DoNoHarm
November 2001 Scientific Problems with Using Embryonic Stem Cell, DoNoHarm
Current Clinical Applications of Adult Stem Cells: Updated November 18, 2001, DoNoHarm
Potential Applications of Adult Stem Cells: Updated November 18, 2001, DoNoHarm
January 1999 Adult Stem Cells May Be Redefinable, British Medical Journal
January 1999 Adult Neural Stem Cells: Plasticity and Developmental Potential, National Center for Biotechnology Information