Adult Stem Cell Research Leads to a Method to Replace Damaged Heart Tissue

The debate over stem cell research remains ongoing and divisive. In 2001, President George W Bush issued his stem cell policy that would only allow federal funding for research on the roughly 60 stem cell lines that were in existence at the time. Bush reiterated that view in 2006 by vetoing a bill that would loosen funding for stem cell research saying, "It crosses a moral boundary that our decent society needs to respect. So I vetoed it." However, it was President Clinton who originally initiated a ban on federal funding for embryonic creation with research on stem cells harvested from those embryos. President Bush merely affirmed Clinton's ban on funding. On March 9, 2009 President Barack Obama lifted this ban, thereby allowing a potential surge in federal funding of embryonic creation and stem cell research.

The debate essentially divides on moral grounds. The right views embryonic stem cell research as the destruction of human life at its most basic level. Those that believe it is unethical to use embryonic stem cells do not believe that the possibility that this research might benefit humans down the road negates their view that the whole process in unethical. The left denies that embryos are actually "life" as an embryo cannot exist on its own. Therefore, creating an embryo in a Petri dish and then allowing it to die by removing the essential part of it is not a moral issue. They view the ability to potentially save life in the future to be worth the destruction of an embryo today. Hence, the ethical question involving embryonic stem cell research becomes the crux of the debate.

However, this debate over embryonic stem cell research completely ignores the fact that to date, embryonic stem cells have produced absolutely no results to back up the wildly exaggerated claims of those in advocating for embryonic research. In his article The Case for Adult Stem Cell Research, Dr. Wolfgang Lillge states,

"It is remarkable that in the debate-often carried on with little competence-the potential of embryonic stem cells is exaggerated in a one-sided way, while important moral questions and issues of research strategy are passed over in silence. Generally, advocates of research with embryonic stem cells use as their main argument that such research will enable us to cure all of the diseases that are incurable today-cancer, AIDS, Alzheimers, multiple sclerosis, and so forth. Faced with such a prospect, it is supposed to be "acceptable" to "overlook" a few moral problems."

Lillge continues, "On closer inspection, however, the much extolled vision of the future turns out to be a case of completely empty promises: Given the elementary state of research today, it is by no means yet foreseeable, whether even one of the hoped-for treatments can be realized. Basically, such promised cures are a deliberate deception, for behind the mirage of a coming medical wonderland, promoted by interested parties, completely other research objectives will be pursued that are to be kept out of public discussion as much as possible."

Those against embryonic stem cell research, such as Dr. Lillge, believe the real potential in stem cells comes from adult stem cells rather than embryonic. Therefore, any ethical dilemma can be avoided by simply focusing on the lines that hold the most promise (adult stem cells) and avoiding those lines that hold the least promise (embryonic.)

Once again, there is good news to report on new gains in medicine developed from adult stem cells. On August 17, 2009, the Catholic News Service reported that Italian researchers have successfully developed a method to repair a damaged heart from adult stem cells. Settimio Grimaldi, an expert at the Institute of Neurobiology and Molecular Medicine in Rome where this method was researched spoke to Vatican Radio on August 15, saying, "The adult stem cell is already prepared to differentiate in the tissue we want to repair. And it is certainly more productive, less wasteful and less dangerous - beyond the ethical aspects -to work with adult stem cells instead of embryonic stem cells." This new method involves injecting damaged heart tissue with cardiac stem cells that have been isolated via this new method developed by the Italian researchers. It is hoped that this method will be available for human use after animal testing in about three years. Grimaldi believes this method will allow those who have had a heart attack to lead a normal life, which would include the ability to continue working and playing sports.

When it comes to the stem cell debate, it is also important to understand that the Presidential bans on funding did not prevent embryonic stem cell research. This research continued in stem cell institutes with non-federal money. The only thing that changed when Obama lifted the ban is that tax dollars are now funding embryonic creation and destruction for the purpose of research on embryonic cells which has now been proven to be all but obsolete. In an article by Bernadine Healy, MD entitled, Why Embryonic Stem Cells Are Obsolete, Dr. Healy explains that several events have unfolded even during the first 6 weeks of Obama's term, prior to his lift on the funding ban, that have all but rendered research into embryonic stem cells obsolete. She notes the most devastating news was contained in a report from Israel published in late February, 2009 in PLoS Medicine that proved that embryonic stem cells injected into patients can cause lethal tumors.

The question now is, why should tax payers who believe embryonic stem cell research is ethically and morally unjust be forced to fund research with their tax dollars which to date has not produced any worthy scientific results, particularly in light of the promising research on adult stem cells which poses no moral or ethical questions? Think about it.

Sources:

Healy, Dr. Bernadine. (4 Mar. 2009). Why Embryonic Stem Cells are Obsolete. (online), 26 Aug. 2009.
http://health.usnews.com/blogs/heart-to-heart/2009/03/04/why-embryonic-stem-cells-are-obsolete.html

Lillge, Dr. Wolfgang. (winter 2001-2002). The Case for Adult Stem Cell Research. (online), 26 Aug. 2009.
http://www.21stcenturysciencetech.com/articles/winter01/stem_cell.html

Bash, Dana and Walsh, Deirdra. (25 Sep. 2006). Bush vetoes embryonic stem-cell bill. 26 Aug 2009.
http://www.cnn.com/2006/POLITICS/07/19/stemcells.veto/index.html

Thavis, John. (17 Aug. 2009). Italian researchers develop heart-repair method with adult stem cells.
26 Aug. 2009.
http://www.catholicnews.com/data/stories/cns/0903702.htm