A New Option in Stem Cell Research

According to an article on BostonHerald.com, scientists in the United States and Japan may have found a way to do stem cell research that will not divide Republicans and Democrats, or religious believers and non-believers. Scientists have discovered that it is possible to reprogram skin cells back to an embryonic state and, in the process, to create stem cells.

The controversy over stem cell research has traditionally revolved around the practice of using human embryos that were thrown away by fertility clinics. The result, notes the Boston Herald, is that "stem cell research has become almost as controversial an issue as abortion."

So far the new method has been used-and found to be successful-only on mice. If it can be transferred successfully to human beings, the controversy over stem cell research should be over.

The news of the new procedure is timely. A bill to provide federal funds for embryonic stem cell research is in the legislative process that will eventually bring it to President Bush for his signature. He has promised to veto it as he has in the past. Among Republican Presidential candidates, Senator John McCain and former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani both favor the use of federal funds for such research.

Democrats have used Republican opposition to stem cell research in some races and, in particular, in Missouri, have defeated Republicans because of the issue. Using actor Michael J. Fox, who has Parkinson's Disease, Democrats were able to defeat Republican Senator Jim Talent.

The downside to the news from the U.S. and Japanese scientists is that there is no way, at present, to know if the procedure will work on human beings. According to the Boston Herald, the mice used in the research had to be interbred. Furthermore, two of the genes used in the research not only reprogrammed the skin cells, but also seemed to cause cancer.

The research does suggest, however, that there are alternatives to the practice of destroying human embryos. That is the point over which most of the controversy has come. Non-religious people have not been bothered by the practice. Religious people have been, because they see life beginning at the moment of fertilization, and to destroy a human embryo is to destroy a human life.

As the writer of the article concludes: "Both sides believe they are on the side of saving lives. It would be wonderful-dare I suggest, Providential-if science could close the divide by finding a new way to conduct potentially life-saving research without destroying life in the process."

Sources:

news.bostonherald.com/editorial/view.bg
www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1847520/posts