Embryonic stem cell debate

A new report is out that effectively places a damper on the hope of embryonic stem cells. They only try this when there is no hope left,but it’s clearly very dangerous – whereas nonembryonic stem cells have been used successfully since the 60s.

Report: Fetal stem cells trigger tumors in ill boy

[ul][color=#516336]A family desperate to save a child from a lethal brain disease sought highly experimental injections of fetal stem cells—injections that triggered tumors in the boy’s brain and spinal cord, Israeli scientists reported Tuesday.[/ul][/color]

Report: Fetal stem cells trigger tumors in ill boy

  1. from a casual reading of that article, jotham, this was an incorrect use, procedurally, technically, and scientifically, of a technique that does show great promise in many areas, just not the particular one for which he was being treated. I don’t know of a treatment for A-T, stem cell or otherwise. desperate people do a lot of desperate things that ‘might work’, but generally don’t, which is why they had to travel beyond the borders of medically acceptable practice (Russia, though it could equally be China) to get this procedure.

  2. your assertion (your hope?) that specifically embryonic stem cell research and clinical use will be curtailed as a result of this case is in error, as this was a case of fetal, not embryonic, stem cells (though one voice from Stanford reminds us in the article that there was no telling what tissue was actually implanted).

  3. your body uses stem cells to replace itself, every single moment of every single day. tapping into this procedure to enhance its effectiveness is not a crime, surely? stem cell research holds great promise for the treatment of many very common disease, such as stroke, Parkinson’s disease, hear attack, spinal cord damage, crush syndrome, multiple sclerosis, spinal muscular atrophy, and so on. if the research to understand this fully (so that it does work properly and realises the potential that lies there) does include research on embryonic stem cells, what of it? a fertilised embryo at the 8 cell stage of the blastocyst, which is when the stem cells are divided from and removed from the inner cell mass and induced to divide further, can hardly be thought of as a human being, nor would it ever have come into being without the laboratory manipulation, so it was never a potential human being either. it is likely that the vast majority of fertilisations also fail at this stage or later in the natural state too, don’t forget.

:eh: Whose conclusion is that? Yours?

I see nothing in the linked article supporting such pessimism. In fact, as it wraps up, it quotes stem cell specialist Dr. Marius Wernig of Stanford University as still concluding that “Stem cell transplantations have a humongous potential”.

Nothing is quite so lonely as the sound of one hand debating…

[quote=“the chief”]Nothing is quite so lonely as the sound of one hand debating…[/quote]Lonely… one hand… mass… debating
There’s a rude joke in there somewhere.

[quote=“Big Fluffy Matthew”][quote=“the chief”]Nothing is quite so lonely as the sound of one hand debating…[/quote]Lonely… one hand… mass… debating
There’s a rude joke in there somewhere.[/quote]

I don’t get it.

go and polish your donkey again, Iris.