Stem cell research....yay or nay?

[NJArtist]

Growing up, I've always considered myself to be "scientifically inclined"...I believe just about everything can be explained by science and that science is the only true law. I cannot bring myself to comprehend why some people believe otherwise (for example: "On Aug. 11, the Kansas State Board of Education fired another salvo in the long battle between religion and science by removing evolution from the high school curriculum...&quot. I think it's sad when people belive so strongly in religion that they fail to even consider the possiblity that other answers exist or at least allow the children to decide for themselves.

What does this have to do with stem cell research? Well, this science is perhaps the most promising science for human lives in terms of allowing scientists to create human tissue for transplant into patients from stem cells derived from embryos. I fail to see, and will always fail to see why people think that an embryo is a human being and that protecting these embryos is more important than saving human lives. In my own mind, I think most of these people have no idea whatsoever what an embryo is...they blindly follow what other's around them (mostly religious conservatives) tell them and don't even seem to think for themselves. Sure there are some out there who understand the science and still do not agree with it, but most people are uneducated on the subject and rant needlessly about saving the embryoes and about how unethical it is to participate in this type of research.

As you can probably guess, I'm pro choice...while I cannot accept women acting irresponsibly and then having an easy way out of the consequences, I feel that it is a woman's right to choose and that we should not restrict the choice.

So what do you fine ppl of AnandTech think? Are you for stem cell research? Against it? Have no idea what it is? For it, but with limitations?

 

[jahawkin]

I'm confused as to why some people belive that a collection of cells is "a lifeform"
I'll vote a big yay for stem cell research

 

[gopunk]

while i believe the definition of a life form is up for debate, i don't care either way, i'm for stem cell stuff. the ends justify the means.

 

[TripleJ]

Yep. So much promise in it. One of the big medical and scientific breakthroughs of our time.

 

[j0lly]

<< I'm confused as to why some people belive that a collection of cells is &quot;a lifeform&quot;
I'll vote a big yay for stem cell research >>



Probably because the primary source of stem cells are from fertilized embryos. I was having this discussion with a friend of mine who is studying to be a nurse and she mentioned to me that stem cells can also be obtained from a living, breathing human being. If this is true, fertilizing an embryo and then destroying it for the sole purpose prolonging the advent of death due to a disease does not make sense to me.

 

[Elledan]

Does this research offer us the chance to develop technologies which will cure numerous diseases and will it give people back organs and limbs they've lost? Yes.
Is this research safe, i.e. is it in some way a threat to life on this planet? No, it's perfectly safe.

Note: no matter what opinion anyone has on this topic, stem cell research will continue. What we think is irrelevant. Progress can't be stopped. Controlled: yes, stopped: no.

 

[jahawkin]

<<
Probably because the primary source of stem cells are from fertilized embryos. I was having this discussion with a friend of mine who is studying to be a nurse and she mentioned to me that stem cells can also be obtained from a living, breathing human being. If this is true, fertilizing an embryo and then destroying it for the sole purpose prolonging the advent of death due to a disease does not make sense to me. >>


But these stem cells (adult) are different that embroynic stem cells (which hold more promise)
Embryos get fertilized all the time then get subsequently destroyed at fertility clinics.

 

[gopunk]

i think it was humorous how defiant the researchers were... talking about moving to other countries and stuff. very nice to see somebody stand up for themselves these days...

 

[gopunk]

dumb question... n/m

 

[PrinceofWands]

As long as we never see 'embryo hunters' I'm all for it. There is a very real danger of medical research centers being so desperate to further research that they begin insentive programs for clinics and such to pass on their embryo's...this could lead to embryo farming in a very sense as a way to make money for the centers, and the often desperate women who use them. While I'm pro choice, I couldn't stand by and allow 'abortion farming' or any such...that's just going too far.

 

[gopunk]

As long as we never see 'embryo hunters' I'm all for it. There is a very real danger of medical research centers being so desperate to further research that they begin insentive programs for clinics and such to pass on their embryo's...this could lead to embryo farming in a very sense as a way to make money for the centers, and the often desperate women who use them. While I'm pro choice, I couldn't stand by and allow 'abortion farming' or any such...that's just going too far.

i highly doubt this scenario. there are in existence around 12 usable stem cell lines. scientists say they may need 100 or more. thousands are created every year as byproducts of invitro fetilization stuff. i think they'll have more than enough.

 

[j0lly]

<< As long as we never see 'embryo hunters' I'm all for it. There is a very real danger of medical research centers being so desperate to further research that they begin insentive programs for clinics and such to pass on their embryo's...this could lead to embryo farming in a very sense as a way to make money for the centers, and the often desperate women who use them. While I'm pro choice, I couldn't stand by and allow 'abortion farming' or any such...that's just going too far. >>



Though this is exactly how I feel about this issue, for all practical reasons it will be impossible to stop the so called 'embryo hunters'. Any Jack with enough resources can start up a lab. Like Elledan mentioned, progress cannot be stopped. With each new technology come good and bad and it is suffice to say that what we think is irrelevant. Stem cell research will go on and the results will be implemented to cure the diseased.

 

[gopunk]

Though this is exactly how I feel about this issue, for all practical reasons it will be impossible to stop the so called 'embryo hunters'.

read my earlier post... hihgly unlikely this will ever happen.

here's the article where i got the numbers: http://archives.seattletimes.nwsource.com/cgi-bin/texis/web/vortex/display?slug=lines11&amp;date=20010811&amp;query=stem+cell

 

[j0lly]

To quote your article:



<< For this reason, said Dr. Harold Varmus, a former head of the National Institutes of Health, limiting embryonic cell lines could be a &quot;cruel compromise. We're going to have to have a sufficiently large repertoire of cell lines to treat patients who have very different&quot; types of immune sensitivities.

Larry Goldstein, a University of California, San Diego, stem-cell researcher, said, &quot;We know that different embryonic stem-cell lines have different properties. So why do we think that the very first lines to be derived have the best properties?&quot;

Dr. James Thomson, the University of Wisconsin researcher who first isolated human embryonic stem cells, said researchers do not now know the minimum number of cells lines needed to get the maximum benefit. He estimated the number could be 100 or more. >>





What I infer from this is that it take more than a 100 cell-lines will have to be reaped in order to be a significant factor in a cure. My understanding is that each embryo yeilds just one cell-line. This is still at a highly experimental level and hence, drawing a conclusion from this article would be unfair. Yet, the numbers seem awfully high.

 

[gopunk]

What I infer from this is that it take more than a 100 cell-lines will have to be reaped in order to be a significant factor in a cure. My understanding is that each embryo yeilds just one cell-line. This is still at a highly experimental level and hence, drawing a conclusion from this article would be unfair. Yet, the numbers seem awfully high.

true, highly experimental and all. but keep in mind that thousands of these embryos are created every year from fertility clinics as byproducts. while the numbers are awfully high, the numbers of readily available embryos, ones that would be destroyed anyways, are even higher.

 

[Syringer]

YAY....it is our future!

 

[Ameesh]

not to be an ass but nurse have no clue about molecular biology, thats why they are nurses.



<<
Probably because the primary source of stem cells are from fertilized embryos. I was having this discussion with a friend of mine who is studying to be a nurse and she mentioned to me that stem cells can also be obtained from a living, breathing human being. If this is true, fertilizing an embryo and then destroying it for the sole purpose prolonging the advent of death due to a disease does not make sense to me. >>

 

[gopunk]

not to be an ass but nurse have no clue about molecular biology, thats why they are nurses.

well you can use adult stem cell lines, it's just that adult stem cells are restricted as to what they can develop into.

 

[FelixDeCat]

Repost.


thread

Yet another thread

 

[j0lly]

<< Repost.


thread

Yet another thread >>



Why thank you Felix, now I can ask NJArtist to post some pics of his gf.

 

[Whisper]

Just because someone is a nurse does not mean they have no knowledge of molecular biology. No, it's not a required course along the path to becoming an RN, but that doesn't mean some nurses don't take it &quot;for fun&quot; at some point.

As for the topic at hand: it's a really tough decision to make. Embryos are just a collection of cells and such, but then again, so are &quot;people&quot; in the most basic sense. Part of me says that something about stem cell research just feels wrong, but the rest weighs the loss against the gain. So, for the time being, I support it.

 

[HansHurt]

Pics?

 

[gopunk]

Part of me says that something about stem cell research just feels wrong, but the rest weighs the loss against the gain. So, for the time being, I support it.

yea we're just cells too but these embryos would have been destroyed anyways...

 

[j0lly]

<< Pics? >>



one foxy girl















To be.

 

[HansHurt]

Thanx, that's better.