Another MORAL Way to Get Stem Cells

(FaithMouse by Dan Lacey)

There was some more news this week that shows how not only is fetal stem cell research not needed, but by the reactions of some, how much it is really about cloning & other ethically immoral practices not finding cures.

The news is that 2 groups of researchers, 1 American, 1 Japanese, have found a way to make stem cells that are pluripotent using skin cells & avoiding the need for cloning. (Skin cells made to mimic stem cells) The USA group was from the University of Wisconsin, Madison. It included James Thompson who 1st isolated fetal stem cells in 1999. The group from Japan was from Kyoto University. Using a chemical mix they were able to reprogram the skin cells to imitated pluripotent stem cells. They each used a somewhat different mix of chemicals to achieve their results. (The MSNBC article link has a fuller explanation of the research & process used.)

William Hurlbut, who is a physician and consulting professor at Stanford University Medical Center & who also serves on the President's Council on Bioethics had this to say to MSNBC: "It's very encouraging, and it's pretty obvious we're going to find a consensus solution. It's exciting, because we're not going to be fighting about this." Dr. Hurlbut has long been a proponant of this very type of research for an ethical alternative to fetal stem cells. & he has been regularly accused of simply trying to provide cover for the Bush administration's unwillingness to support fetal stem cell research. These reports have definitely exhonorated his stance. (For more see The End of the Stem-Cell Wars )

Unfortunately this news, while welcome by some, has been downplayed by others. Interestingly many of the arguements in favor of continuing fetal research like how far down the road any useful results could come are the very same arguements against fetal stem cell research that they ignore (Analysis: Hurdles remain for stem cells) Many of those downplaying it are the same people who have been claiming that fetal stem cells are the only hope when there hasn't been a successful cure or treatment even on the distant horizon. Meanwhile they ignore the 70 plus cures & treatments that have come out of adult stem cell research. (& that includes the author of that Analysis article. Why? Because the real goal for most of them is not the cures, they want to develop cloning techniques. & I would suspect for more than simply creating stem cell lines, but for eventually creating sources of replacement parts & other highly immoral types of research that will make the Nazi medical researchers in the concentration camps look like slackers & altar boys.

But many scientists are welcoming this as a moral & highly promising, even more promising than cloning, means of finding stem cell cures. & with none of the moral problems. In fact 1 of the pioneers in cloning has announced he is turning his back on the process. According to a report ( Dolly pioneer quits clone work in stem-cell search ): "Professor Ian Wilmut has decided that the method he pioneered ten years ago no longer offers the best way to grow a patient's cells and tissues to treat a range of medical conditions." "Prof Wilmut, of Edinburgh University, explained that the new technique was "easier to accept socially" than the therapeutic cloning process he helped to pioneer."

"Prof Wilmut was quoted as saying: "I decided a few weeks ago not to pursue nuclear transfer [the method by which Dolly was cloned].""

News like this will make it even harder for those who want fetal stem cell use & cloning to go on to justify their desires. But as I already pointed out, their spin has begun.

& while it is true that there is still a lot of work ahead, this news shows that there is absolutely no need to use fetal stem cells & cloning when other, safer, ethical & moral methods exist. I thank God that we have come up with a solution that keeps us from going over a moral precipice that would result in our leaving God no option but to punish us as he has the Jewish people & others who turned their back on God's ways. But, it is up to us to be sure that we take this path instead of the 1 that fetal stem cell research/cloning advocates are pushing. We can still go either way. But the wrong choice now is even more clearly delineated than ever as uneeded, so the chastisement will be even more severe if we make the wrong choices. Our job is to counter the spin with the truth.