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Stem Cell News
Adult Stem Cells Save Lives
By Brendan Roberts, The New Zealand Herald, June
25, 2007
The claim that religion and science are based on
fundamentally contrasting ways of understanding our
world was made in an article titled, "Believers
stonewall life-saving science." It was written by
Johann Hari.
Hari describes a view that he calls science's
strict empirical observation of the world, and says
that his support of embryonic stem cell research over
research using adult stem cells defies that view. But
only a temporary benefit would be achieved with
embryonic stem cell research, if any benefit at all.
The immune system can reject embryonic cell and they
are well known for their tumor production. But
treatments for degenerative brain diseases, cancer,
and auto-immune diseases have been developed using
adult stem cells, and the breakthroughs that involve
adult stem cells are lasting and almost always
spectacular.
Adult stem cells can supply desperately needed
cells and help non-healthy cells to recover. They can
assist muscles, tissues, and even organs to recover
from disease, and they have the most potential in the
field of regenerative medicine.
Adult stem cells can be derived from a vast array
of sources which include; amniotic fluid, hair
follicles, bone marrow, the placenta, and of course
umbilical cord blood.
For the past 40 years we have been turning to bone
marrow transplants as a treatment for various
illnesses.
Researchers published their findings that the stem
cells in fat can be cultured into muscle for organ
repair in the proceedings of the National Academy of
Sciences.
An often claimed disadvantage of adult stem cells
is that they lack the ability to become any type of
cell if properly prepared. On the other hand,
embryonic stem cells are considered to be totipotent.
But this paradigm is shifting.
Some researchers are beginning to claim the same
flexibility of adult stem cells, and the potential for
cultivating adult stem cells is helping to narrow the
gap, especially with bone marrow cells.
Allowing primates with severe Parkinson's disease
to eat and walk unaided, Hari promotes the research
being conducted at Yale University. However, the fact
that adult stem cells were used to accomplish this
significant achievement was conveniently omitted from
his point.
Another trail which treated the brains of five
Parkinson's patients using adult stem cells delivered
remarkable results. Carried out at the Sussex Center
for Genome Damage and Stability by Dr. Steven Gill,
there was a 61 per cent increase in the activities on
a "daily living" score after one year.
Even though adult stem-cell research has produced
the really impressive results, Hollywood celebrities
have been in the forefront of the battle for embryonic
stem-cell research. It must be the "in"
thing to do these days.
Embryonic stem cell research is embraced by Hari
who says the cells produce faster results and are less
costly.
In this debate, money should not even be
considered. Results should be the end all in this
argument, and adult stem cells are have clearly proved
to be more superior thus far.
But the voices calling for federal funding to be
directed towards embryonic stem cell research have
become deafening in some cases. With all the validity
surrounding adult stem cell research, the only logical
answer as to why there is so much unsubstantiated
support can be the potential to develop new patents
related to embryonic stem cells.
Thousands of patients suffering from about 80
different diseases have been aided by adult stem cell
treatments, this is a scientific fact. In stark
contrast, embryonic stem cells have never produced one
remarkable treatment, or any type of lasting benefit.
Funding for embryonic stem cell research should be
limited, this is a bold but wise decision. The time,
effort, and energy, which would be saved because of
this decision should then be directed at further
strengthening the already superb potential of adult
stem cells.
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