It is time to get mad

Wednesday, September 3. 2008

I was on Sacred Heart Radio again this morning and I was asked a great question, "What do you think it will take to convince embryonic stem cell research supporters that adult stem cell research is not only morally more commendable, but also more successful?"

I gave a mediocre answer about being vocal and holding the media accountable for their lopsided coverage of the advances in both arenas. As I sat there after, I realized that I wished I would have given the following answer instead.

Nothing is more powerful than a person with paralysis, or diabetes, or Parkinson's or heart disease speaking out and demanding that public money and attention be paid to research and therapies that are already treating patients or are in human clinical trials. If I was suffering from a disease, I would be hopping mad that any taxpayer money was going to fund things like human cloning because it is a field that is decades behind adult stem cell research. Imagine how much faster cures would come if that 3 billion dollars that California has earmarked for stem cell research was put into ethical research instead of paying scientists to tinker around with human cloning for the next 20 years.

If society is to know that adult stem cells are the way to go, those with diabetes, Parkinson's, cystic fibrosis, blindness, Alzheimer's, lupus, sickle cell anemia, autism (and the list goes on and on) have to get mad and DEMAND it.

Posted by Rebecca Taylor in Stem cells, Adult at 12:35 | Comment (1) | Trackbacks (0)

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Rebecca

Most scientists working in developmental biology or any of the experimental sub-fields recognize that if stem cell research is going to do anything, then experiments will have to be conducted with stem cells from adults and embryos, as well as gametes. While you can make a moral argument against using human embryos, there is no scientific case to be made.
Bert

#1 bert on 2008-09-04 12:53 (Reply)

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