Stemcell research....GO!

[ShepardG]

BBC NEWS | Health | Green light for US stem cell work

The FDA approved it today with a simple phone call.

Grandmomma, after reading the thread about your illness, I hope you might one day in the near future be completely better.

The implications of this research are pretty amazing, growing a new bone for your leg, replacing your testes with one that produces living sperm, growing someone a new heart, cellular identical to their old heart. Those organ transplant drugs could be a thing of the past in the next 10 years.

I sit on the fence as to conservative or liberal, but when i heard bush banned it I was sad, and when I heard this today I was Glad. Also I'm a poet and I didn't know it.

[Szkol]

Re: Stimcell research....GO!

This is great news~


I'm also on the fence a good deal of the time- but I'm generally of the opinion that the talking heads on both sides of the fence need to stop imposing their sense of moralilty on the rest of us. A lot of conservatives will believe this is wrong b/c conservatives tend to be more religious as a group, and it's against their religion. I unerstand and respect that. They just need to respect the fact that there are lots of people out there that are totally OK with this. On the other side of the coin, people that are OK with this should respect the fact that t here are lots of people who are definitely NOT ok with this.


Sorry a little OT above, but I'm not 100% sure where I sit on the question of whether or not this is ethical- but for me, the risk vs. reward factor is undeniable. So much groundbreaking medicine will come out of stem cells, that I think it's unethical to NOT pursue this.

[Malacite]

Re: Stimcell research....GO!

WTF is a stimcell?


Seriously though this is great news. With any luck we will finally make advances in curing spinal injuries and birth defects.

[TheGrandMom]

Re: Stemcell research....GO!

LOL Changed the topic misspell. And ty Shepard, I hope only positive things come out of this too.

[Lmnop]

Re: Stemcell research....GO!

It does need brought up that we're talking about making use of dead babies. But as long as abortion's legal, we should be making the best of it...

Also, didn't I hear recently that a means was discovered to turn any cell into a stemcell version of it?

[Illuen]

Re: Stemcell research....GO!

It does need brought up that we're talking about making use of dead babies. But as long as abortion's legal, we should be making the best of it...

Also, didn't I hear recently that a means was discovered to turn any cell into a stemcell version of it?

So, if not using the aborted fetuses for stemcell research, what should we be doing with them? Abortions are going to be around until the world explodes, might as well get some medical mileage out of them.

[BurningPanther]

Re: Stemcell research....GO!

It does need brought up that we're talking about making use of dead babies. But as long as abortion's legal, we should be making the best of it...

Also, didn't I hear recently that a means was discovered to turn any cell into a stemcell version of it?

Yes, it's a process called induced pluripotency.

The process takes a unipotent cell(cells having only one use), and makes it pluripotent(having multiple uses).

It should be noted that induced pluripotency, however useful, still pales to the potential offered by embryonic stem cells.

[Vyuru]

Re: Stemcell research....GO!

A lot of conservatives will believe this is wrong b/c conservatives tend to be more religious as a group

I don't know about that, I know plenty of nonreligious people who are against it.

So, if not using the aborted fetuses for stemcell research, what should we be doing with them?

It's a good question. However that reasoning won't ease my conscience any even if it is the most reasonable and sensible approach to use them for stemcell research.

Religion notwithstanding, I don't like this because too many people try to rationalize their reasoning's for doing this. To me it cannot be rationalized and I am offended, highly so, at what some people have said about it. I feel like I'm reading Mein Kampf again, the only book I have never finished, when I listen to some of these people talk.

Despite the good that could come of this, I don't like it.

[Feba]

Re: Stemcell research....GO!

Yesssssssssssssssss.

This could cut years or decades off the process of finding revolutionary and lifesaving techniques. It also helps keep the US from falling further behind, medically speaking.

Whatever you think of abortion, it happens and will continue to happen. Even if you consider it murder, you have to admit that this means other lives can be saved.

[DakAttack]

Re: Stemcell research....GO!

Unless irremovable condoms magically appear on every man's penis there will still be abortions. Regardless, there will be women who can not or will not want to raise children. Why be wasteful?

[Illuen]

Re: Stemcell research....GO!

Unless irremovable condoms magically appear on every man's penis there will still be abortions. Regardless, there will be women who can not or will not want to raise children. Why be wasteful?

I was talking to a person the other day who was convinced if the government banned abortions then they'd stop happening. I think, and I'm sure most rational people can see this as well, that they would continue to happen at nearly the same rate they are now, with the difference being that instead of them happening in safe, sterile and secure procedures, they'd become back alley deals and botched home abortions that kill mother and fetus.

It's a good question. However that reasoning won't ease my conscience any even if it is the most reasonable and sensible approach to use them for stemcell research.

Religion notwithstanding, I don't like this because too many people try to rationalize their reasoning's for doing this. To me it cannot be rationalized and I am offended, highly so, at what some people have said about it. I feel like I'm reading Mein Kampf again, the only book I have never finished, when I listen to some of these people talk.

Despite the good that could come of this, I don't like it.

If I may be nosy, why do you feel this way? I promise I'm not trying to be antagonizing, I'm truly curious. I have my own (strong) opinions on the matter, but I'd very much like to hear yours before I put mine out on the table.

[Susurrus]

Re: Stemcell research....GO!

Sorry, I don't know how to put in youtube. If a mod wants to edit them in as videos i'd appreciate it. (If not, at least tell me how, please and I'll do it. ^^)
EDIT: nevermind, it does this automatically...

Lady is cured of MS:
[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aHFw2plFD7A]YouTube - MS Patient After Stem Cell Therapy[/ame]

Kid mostly cured of Cerebral Palsy:
[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7ldiHK1TwdM]YouTube - Ella's Stem Cell Patient Experience, Cerebral Palsy[/ame]

I think these are two good ways to use ALREADY aborted fetuses. I can't see why anyone would be against it, tbh.

[Taskmage]

Re: Stemcell research....GO!

It does need brought up that we're talking about making use of dead babies. But as long as abortion's legal, we should be making the best of it...

Also, didn't I hear recently that a means was discovered to turn any cell into a stemcell version of it?

I was listening to a lecture on this the other day and the short and sweet answer is that there are multiple types and levels of stem cells. Think of it as being like an RTS tech tree with specialized cells being the ends of the branches. With adult cells there are ways we can trick certain end-product cells to take one step back in the tech tree, like building a Starport out of a Terran Wraith, which could then be used to produce a number of different unit types. We can't yet, however, turn the clock all the way back to the Command Center cell that sits at the top of all the branches and opens the way for any type of cell to be created. Fetal stem cells are basically that top building in the tech tree.

[Omgwtfbbqkitten]

Re: Stemcell research....GO!

This could cut years or decades off the process of finding revolutionary and lifesaving techniques. It also helps keep the US from falling further behind, medically speaking.

Whatever you think of abortion, it happens and will continue to happen. Even if you consider it murder, you have to admit that this means other lives can be saved.

Well, considering the ethical climate of the medical profession right now - you know, like considering organs harvestable within seconds of death - I don't think the potential good is any better than the potentially questionable ideas and practices that are being advocated right now.

This also rides closely to the cloning thing. Are we extending/saving lives with Stem Cell research or are we just finding ways to cheat death, illness and the consequences of injury?

Its a question of ethics that extends beyond the abortion issue itself. It could save lives or it could be a Frankenstein story in the making. Or both.

[DakAttack]

Re: Stimcell research....GO!

WTF is a stimcell?

I think it's a new Terran ability in Starcraft 2.