August 15, 2006
YOU MEAN CHRISTOPHER REEVES ISN'T ABOUT TO GET UP AND WALK?:
Embryonic Stem Cell Research Not Working as Quickly as Hoped, Scientists Say (Steven Ertelt, August 14, 2006, LifeNews.com)
To hear some politicians talk about embryonic stem cell research, it may appear to the general public that cures for most every disease known to man are right around the corner. Instead, it has yet to help a single human patient and scientists say cures may be a very long time in coming, if at all.Some scientists now don't see embryonic stem cell research as a top priority and say the science may only be useful in learning more about diseases but not deriving cures for them.
“Many of us feel that for the next few years the most rational way forward is not to try to push cell therapies,†Thomas M. Jessell, a neurobiologist at Columbia University Medical Center, told the New York Times newspaper.
Posted by Orrin Judd at August 15, 2006 8:39 AM
If only Chris could have waited Bush out, Hillary-Care cudda cured him.
Posted by: erp at August 15, 2006 9:18 AMWell, part of the confusion is that cord blood transfusions have been very successful, and they are a type of stem cell. However, they aren't the embryonic stem cell that makes the news.
Posted by: John Thacker at August 15, 2006 9:21 AMDr. Jessell may have told the Times this, but odds are the message will never reach the rest of the newsroom or editorial board offices.
Posted by: John at August 15, 2006 9:54 AMThere was a great article in First Things a few years ago that explained why, as a matter of science, the use of embryonic stem cells is the least likely of all possible stem cell therapies to succeed.
Embryonic stem cell research has never been about the actual research; it's a way to validate the abortion industry. See, also, e.g., the Babylon 5 episode "Deathwalker:"
just before she departs, Jha'dur smugly informs Sinclair there is a price to her immortality medication; the essential components are fatally derived from the bodies of beings of the same species of the recipient. With a sadistic glee, she predicts that the various species will turn on each other internally and ravenously for immortality, sparking a wave of mass murder and chaos that will destroy any pretensions of moral superiority to her people.
Posted by: Mike Morley at August 15, 2006 10:12 AMScience is a wonderful thing, but this fixation on such extremes as ESCR seems to be about doing something simply because it can.
Posted by: Ed Bush at August 15, 2006 10:12 AMRight-wing spin! Right-wing lies! Right-wing mis-information! Right-wing hate! [moonbat chip**OFF]
Posted by: Dave W at August 15, 2006 10:17 AMSounds to me like the funding frenzy has taken a nose dive.
Posted by: Dusty at August 15, 2006 11:52 AMA possibly-relevant quote from the movie The Man with Two Brains:
"If the deaths of twelve innocent people can save one human life, it will have been worth it!"
Posted by: Joseph Hertzlinger at August 15, 2006 11:59 AMThen it's not true that two heads are better than one?
Posted by: erp at August 15, 2006 12:21 PMPeople who believe human embryonic stem cells will be used in cures are ignorant of the situation. They cause tumors that kill the subjects unless matured to the level of other stem cells. Other stem cells of 'embryonic quality' have been found anywhere from amneotic fluid to dental pulp.
More important is the risk to women's health this research poses ... see, there are few clinic embryos available for research ... abt. 250/state ... so researchers are currently coercing and exploiting poor women of color for as little as $300 for their eggs ... thousands of which were wasted on the fake cloning (BTW: Cloning in humans is unlikely due to meiotic spindle issues unique to apes.) 10% of donors suffer OHSS ... from which another woman died just a few weeks ago as a result of 'egg harvesting'.
Human embryonic stem cell (hES) research is irresponsible. There is NO EVIDENCE it is 'superior' to other stem cells except in their ability to be 'studied', patenting.
hES is primarily for DRUG therapies, not reparative ... and women shouldn't have to die to provide profits for pharmaceuticals.
To find out more about this issue visit http://www.EndEggsploitation.org or http://www.HandsOffOurOvaries.com - a primarily feminist organization that has proposed an international moratorium on egg harvesting for research purposes.
Posted by: Mary Hamilton at October 6, 2006 11:36 AM