| Subject: "Adult" stem cells are not the same |
Author:
Duane
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Date Posted: 08/20/04 3:25am
In reply to:
frederick william evans
's message, "Creator of ALL. http://www.commandments.us" on 08/18/04 7:21am
The "magic" of stem cells is that they are able to differentiate into any kind of cell possible (skin, neuron, red blood cell, etc.)
You bring up an interesting point - every cell contains the same complement of genes that every other cell in your body contains. So why don't skin cells sometimes divide and become neurons, or muscle cells, or liver cells?
The answer (as far as I know) is that, during development, different cells are chemically induced to terminally differentiate into a specific class of cell, and once they do, they don't "un-differentiate" into a less-specific type.
So, why couldn't we somehow induce a skin cell to somehow become pluripotent (i.e., able to produce any other kind of cell) and use them in the same way we use stem cells?
I think the answer is that we probably could! However, why would we spend time researching that, when stem cells, which already possess those properties, are available?
Only if you've decided a priori that using fetal stem cells for medical purposes is somehow "bad" would the above be a problem.
So let's examine why we might think that using stem cells is bad. I imagine the primary objection is the following form:
1) At fertilization, that single cell should be considered a human being, deserving of all the rights and protections of any other human being.
2) Since stem cells were once part of a living, albeit incomplete, human being, using them for scientific research is somehow bad, so we shouldn't do it.
But #2 is where my understanding breaks down. How do you feel about those who donate their bodies to "science" upon death? Usually, they end up being sliced and diced by a bunch of young-punk medical school idiots, maybe respected, or maybe not. Is this OK?
Or what about organ donation? Is it OK to use the complete organs of a recently deceased person to save the life of another human?
I can hear the objection to this before it's even offered, so let me deal with it now.
"But those people chose of their own volition to donate their bodies! Fetuses cannot make any choices, so it's wrong!"
OK, so let's say that a mother has a stillbirth in a hospital. The family mourns, and is consoled. Shortly thereafter, the physician asks, "Mr. and Mrs. Jones, I am terribly sorry for your loss. But in his/her passing, your child could save the lives of many, many other people. Would you be willing to allow us to use your child's cells to perform research that has undeniable promise to ease the suffering of others and save countless lives?"
Is it OK for the parents to say yes? Here's the thing - Parents make decisions that affect their children's lives EVERY DAY, without consulting the children, and, in fact, quite often these decisions are the perfect opposite of what their children want!
For example,
1) where their children go to school
2) what their children eat
3) what their children see, or don't see, on TV
4) who their children associate with
5) what their child wears
and so on...
We accept the fact that parents may make decisions regarding their children, and those children have no input into these decisions. Additionally, these children are ALIVE!!!
So why is a parent's decision to donate their child's life to an avenue of research, which will most likely ease the suffering of many, and prevent the untimely deaths of some?
Even if we as a country ascribed to primarily Christian beliefs, ethics, and mores, I still don't see how any of the above scenarios are wrong!
By the way, the "slippery slope" argument is really old and tired and (most importantly) incorrect, so please don't bother bringing it up.
Here's the rebuttal to it, just in case you were curious as to why it's just not valid:
Make it illegal to use any aborted fetus for stem cell research. Only unborn children that have died of natural causes may be used for stem cell research (with their parents' consent, of course). We'd be OK with that. ("We" being the scientific community)
Eagerly anticipating your probably non-forthcoming response, you hit-and-run spammer.
Duane
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