Wealth of research: Controversial stem cell work beneficial

By The Michigan Daily  On  January 30th, 2001

As the Bush administration introduces its new policy proposals, scientists across the country worry that a new occupant in the White House could mean the end of federal funding for groundbreaking research involving stem cells from human embryos. Any move by Bush to stop or slow stem cell research would have a profound effect on medical research in general and could have a significant effect on potential research at the University"s Medical School and/or the Life Sciences Institute. Stem cells which compose approximately one out of every million bone marrow cells are the versatile building blocks of the human body. Formed in the earliest stages of cell division (approximately four days after fertilization), stem cells later become specialized and ultimately develop into a human being. Researchers believe that understanding this process could lead to major advances in the treatment and curing of diseases. Although stem cells can be harvested from some adult tissues, the best specimens are found in human embryos. As with many issues involving human embryos and fetuses, stem cell harvesting and experimentation are particularly controversial among conservatives. University researchers currently conduct studies on adult stem cells, but not on the more controversial embryonic stem cells. According to Bush"s press secretary, the "president would oppose federally-funded research for experimentation on embryonic stem cells that require live human embryos to be discarded or destroyed." Certain pro-life activists are calling for an executive order to reverse the Clinton administration"s already strict policies governing this type of research and to end all federal funding of it. But for many other conservatives, like Tommy Thompson Bush"s Secretary of Health and Human Services the issue is not so black and white. While Thompson identifies himself as both conservative and pro-life, he has been an outspoken advocate for human stem cell research. Unless Bush intervenes, the decision to fund stem cell research by scientists at the National Institute of Health will rest with Thompson. Under guidelines put into place by the Clinton administration, embryos already marked for disposal at fertility clinics would be obtained by private researchers and broken down for their stem cells. NIH scientists would then multiply the cells in laboratories, using these new cells for their research. It is currently forbidden for federally-funded scientists to break down the embryos themselves or to pay the private researchers for the cells. The potential benefits of this research are monumental. Early clinical trials of stem cell therapy in monkeys have had promising results researchers believe that, given government funding and more time, they will be well on their way to finding cures for everything from cancer to diabetes to Lou Gehrig"s disease. These possibilities are being recognized around the world. Britain"s House of Lords recently approved legislation that allows limited cloning of human embryos to be used for embryonic stem cell research. Cutting federal funding for stem cell research or banning it altogether would slow worldwide progress and possibly delay much-needed cures for deadly diseases. If Bush chooses to restrict stem cell science here in the U.S., he will only be doing so to save political face. Bush should not bow to his political bases on the far right rather, he should retain the current research restrictions or even loosen them.

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