Stem Cell Research: The Hot Topic in Kansas - Part I - Updated
It’s on the lips and in the thoughts of most Kansans these days. Our parish adult education guest speaker Catholic Dave Gittrich, the President of Kansans for Life, gave us a basic introduction on stem cell research this past week, which I will briefly summarize in simple terms here, with the help of my notes from that talk, along with some of American Life League’s definitions, and excerpts from A Pastoral Letter from the Bishops of Kansas.
The Basics
What is a stem cell? Stem cells are unspecialized cells. One of the fundamental properties of a stem cell is that it does not have any tissue-specific structures that allow it to perform specialized functions. For example, a stem cell cannot work with its neighbors to pump blood through the body like a heart cell. Stem cells are very simple, primitive human cells. However, when stem cells divide, they can form a variety of more specialized cells. When unspecialized stem cells give rise to specialized cells, the process is called differentiation.
A stem cell then is a cell with two characteristics: 1) the property of an unlimited self-maintenance - that is, the ability to reproduce itself over a long period of time without changing; and 2) the capability to produce other types of cells such as brain, muscle and lung, to name a few.
What is an adult stem cell? An adult stem cell is a differentiated stem cell obtained from adult tissue, blood from the umbilical cord, and other sources. Versatile stem cells have been found in bone marrow, blood, muscle, fat, nerves, amniotic fluid, and even the pulp of baby teeth. Many successful therapies have been developed using these adult stem cells. Using adult stem cells in research poses no moral problems as it does not involve the destruction of human life and it has been highly successful.
What is an embryonic stem cell? It is a stem cell that is obtained by killing a human embryo (who is a human being from the beginning of fertilization/ conception) when it is about one week old. It is a differentiated cell. These embryos are obtained from one of two sources.
1. In vitro fertilization. Embryonic stem cell research commonly involves harvesting cells from human embryos created in a laboratory by “in vitro” fertilization. The embryos created are frozen and stored for future use. For various reasons, not all the embryos are used. Some people consider these “leftover” embryos as a potential resource for scientific research. This is a morally unacceptable process on many grounds, and the cell harvesting process itself destroys the living embryo.
2. Human cloning. Embryonic stem cells might also be harvested from embryos created by cloning, also known as “somatic cell nuclear transfer” (the same process used to create Dolly the sheep). In human cloning, the nucleus from an adult donor cell is inserted into a donated egg cell from which the nucleus has been removed. The inserted nucleus provides the necessary DNA for the new cell to function and divide. The resulting human embryo is allowed to grow for several days, and then destroyed to obtain stem cells for experimentation.
The Moral Implications of Embryonic Stem Cell Research
1. It destroys human life.
2. It victimizes women. Women, too, are victimized by the promotion of embryonic stem cell research. The process of cloning human embryos for research requires a huge number of female eggs. There is a certain amount of inconvenience, pain and substantial health risk associated with the process for harvesting eggs. For this reason, it is likely that only women driven by need (typically the poor, including ethnic minority women, students, and women from developing countries) would donate the eggs needed for experimentation. Advance in research and finding cures for disease would be achieved at the expense not only of human beings at their earliest stage of development, but also of women in desperate circumstances.
3. Pragmatism. Embryonic stem cell research focuses on the advance of science and the potential of curing diseases, but to the detriment of human life and dignity. Some even say this is a small price to pay for the economic development of Kansas: if we do not permit and promote embryonic stem cell research, they say, we stand to lose the economic benefits promised by the biotechnology industry (a similar argument was used by proponents of slavery, who said that certain states could not survive economically without this despicable institution). Such claims are baseless, as other states and countries that ban human cloning have taken a leadership role in the development of biotechnology. The primary question is whether embryonic stem cell research can be pursued without harming another human being, and our own humanity in the process. The answer to this question is quite clearly “no.”
Some proponents also argue that if the frozen embryo is going to be killed anyway, what can be wrong with using them for the benefit of others. This line of reasoning is flawed. A death-row prisoner, a terminally ill patient, and indeed each living person will die one day, but that does not entitle another to kill human life at will for the purposes of scientific experimentation. What is more, in the case of frozen embryos, they would survive if someone had not decided to give them over to be killed for research purposes, instead of implanting them in their mother’s womb.
The Politics
The debate about embryonic stem cell research and the cloning of human life is front and center in Washington, D.C. and it has now hit Kansas. The powerful one-two lobbying punch of the big biotechnology industry and the University of Kansas School of Medicine is exerting tremendous pressure on state lawmakers to approve practices in Kansas laboratories that encourage the artificial creation and destruction of living human embryos with taxpayer money. The goal, they say, is finding cures for those suffering from various diseases and conditions.
However, one might ask, “Why push for embryonic stem cell research when adult stem cell research has been so effective?”
I think most of us can guess the answer to that. You can’t patent adult stem cell research or make money from it. Scientists, however, can freeze embryos in the lab, can purchase eggs from poor women, and are in control in embryonic stem research.
A new short documentary commissioned and released by the four Catholic bishops of Kansas entitled “The Science of Stem Cells: Finding Cures and Protecting Life” figures to play a key role in educating the public about what is involved. View it here.
A Pastoral Letter from the Catholic Bishops of Kansas - full text. This is an excellent letter that makes me proud of our Kansas Bishops.
Coming Soon: The Benefits of Adult Stem Cell Research
The Basics
What is a stem cell? Stem cells are unspecialized cells. One of the fundamental properties of a stem cell is that it does not have any tissue-specific structures that allow it to perform specialized functions. For example, a stem cell cannot work with its neighbors to pump blood through the body like a heart cell. Stem cells are very simple, primitive human cells. However, when stem cells divide, they can form a variety of more specialized cells. When unspecialized stem cells give rise to specialized cells, the process is called differentiation.
A stem cell then is a cell with two characteristics: 1) the property of an unlimited self-maintenance - that is, the ability to reproduce itself over a long period of time without changing; and 2) the capability to produce other types of cells such as brain, muscle and lung, to name a few.
What is an adult stem cell? An adult stem cell is a differentiated stem cell obtained from adult tissue, blood from the umbilical cord, and other sources. Versatile stem cells have been found in bone marrow, blood, muscle, fat, nerves, amniotic fluid, and even the pulp of baby teeth. Many successful therapies have been developed using these adult stem cells. Using adult stem cells in research poses no moral problems as it does not involve the destruction of human life and it has been highly successful.
What is an embryonic stem cell? It is a stem cell that is obtained by killing a human embryo (who is a human being from the beginning of fertilization/ conception) when it is about one week old. It is a differentiated cell. These embryos are obtained from one of two sources.
1. In vitro fertilization. Embryonic stem cell research commonly involves harvesting cells from human embryos created in a laboratory by “in vitro” fertilization. The embryos created are frozen and stored for future use. For various reasons, not all the embryos are used. Some people consider these “leftover” embryos as a potential resource for scientific research. This is a morally unacceptable process on many grounds, and the cell harvesting process itself destroys the living embryo.
2. Human cloning. Embryonic stem cells might also be harvested from embryos created by cloning, also known as “somatic cell nuclear transfer” (the same process used to create Dolly the sheep). In human cloning, the nucleus from an adult donor cell is inserted into a donated egg cell from which the nucleus has been removed. The inserted nucleus provides the necessary DNA for the new cell to function and divide. The resulting human embryo is allowed to grow for several days, and then destroyed to obtain stem cells for experimentation.
The Moral Implications of Embryonic Stem Cell Research
1. It destroys human life.
2. It victimizes women. Women, too, are victimized by the promotion of embryonic stem cell research. The process of cloning human embryos for research requires a huge number of female eggs. There is a certain amount of inconvenience, pain and substantial health risk associated with the process for harvesting eggs. For this reason, it is likely that only women driven by need (typically the poor, including ethnic minority women, students, and women from developing countries) would donate the eggs needed for experimentation. Advance in research and finding cures for disease would be achieved at the expense not only of human beings at their earliest stage of development, but also of women in desperate circumstances.
3. Pragmatism. Embryonic stem cell research focuses on the advance of science and the potential of curing diseases, but to the detriment of human life and dignity. Some even say this is a small price to pay for the economic development of Kansas: if we do not permit and promote embryonic stem cell research, they say, we stand to lose the economic benefits promised by the biotechnology industry (a similar argument was used by proponents of slavery, who said that certain states could not survive economically without this despicable institution). Such claims are baseless, as other states and countries that ban human cloning have taken a leadership role in the development of biotechnology. The primary question is whether embryonic stem cell research can be pursued without harming another human being, and our own humanity in the process. The answer to this question is quite clearly “no.”
Some proponents also argue that if the frozen embryo is going to be killed anyway, what can be wrong with using them for the benefit of others. This line of reasoning is flawed. A death-row prisoner, a terminally ill patient, and indeed each living person will die one day, but that does not entitle another to kill human life at will for the purposes of scientific experimentation. What is more, in the case of frozen embryos, they would survive if someone had not decided to give them over to be killed for research purposes, instead of implanting them in their mother’s womb.
The Politics
The debate about embryonic stem cell research and the cloning of human life is front and center in Washington, D.C. and it has now hit Kansas. The powerful one-two lobbying punch of the big biotechnology industry and the University of Kansas School of Medicine is exerting tremendous pressure on state lawmakers to approve practices in Kansas laboratories that encourage the artificial creation and destruction of living human embryos with taxpayer money. The goal, they say, is finding cures for those suffering from various diseases and conditions.
However, one might ask, “Why push for embryonic stem cell research when adult stem cell research has been so effective?”
I think most of us can guess the answer to that. You can’t patent adult stem cell research or make money from it. Scientists, however, can freeze embryos in the lab, can purchase eggs from poor women, and are in control in embryonic stem research.
A new short documentary commissioned and released by the four Catholic bishops of Kansas entitled “The Science of Stem Cells: Finding Cures and Protecting Life” figures to play a key role in educating the public about what is involved. View it here.
A Pastoral Letter from the Catholic Bishops of Kansas - full text. This is an excellent letter that makes me proud of our Kansas Bishops.
Coming Soon: The Benefits of Adult Stem Cell Research
If there is so much profit to be made with embryonic stem cell research why do the biotech people need taxpayers to foot the bill? Could it be they realize that's it not profitable because it has yielded zero cures and the only way they can make money from it is by stealing money from the taxpayer?
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