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Stem cells from skin cells

Author	Comment
irishrosem	Stem cells from skin cells		Lead	[-]
Posts: 641 06/07/07 12:39:22 OMG I'm Awesome!	Tags : None Scientists Use Skin To Create Stem Cells *Quote:* Three teams of scientists said yesterday they had coaxed ordinary mouse skin cells to become what are effectively embryonic stem cells without creating or destroying embryos in the process -- an advance that, if it works with human cells, could revolutionize stem cell research and quench one of the hottest bioethical controversies of the decade. If the process also works with human cells, as scientists suspect it will with some modifications, it would mean that a person's own skin cells could be converted directly into stem cells without having to collect healthy human eggs or destroy human embryos -- steps that until now have been required to obtain embryonic stem cells. Does this strike anyone else as an unacceptable waste of time and resources? BTW, here's a link to H. RES. 464, "Providing for consideration of the bill (S. 5) to amend the Public Health Service Act to provide for human embryonic stem cell research" as referenced in the article. It passed today by a vote of 224-191, 17 not voting.
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Chris OConnor	Stem cells from skin cells	#1	[url]	[-]
Indisputable BookTalk Master Posts: 9504 06/07/07 13:04:01 BookTalk Owner	I don't think the debate on whether or not it is morally acceptable to destroy embryonic stem cells is going away any time soon, so this new procedure might at least allow science to move forward without having to waste time, energy and money on fighting the religious right. Yes, it does seem ridiculous that we're even in this situation, but look at the potential outcome. We may have just made a new advance in science all because science was pushed hard to solve a problem. Yeah, it was the religious right that did the pushing, but the end result is rather exciting. Let's watch this story and see if we can actually duplicate the process in humans.
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irishrosem	Re: Stem cells from skin cells	#2	[url]	[-]
Posts: 641 06/07/07 16:18:10 OMG I'm Awesome!	I agree that it could be an interesting development. And I couldn't find anything that stated one way or the other that the ultimate goal of this research is an alternative to embryonic stem cells or something else. It could very well be that this is just part of a host of possible discoveries. But the concerted effort to find an alternative to human embryonic stem cells, when those cells are already available, drives me up a wall. Also, the article notes that it took "more than 20 years" after the discovery of stem cells in mice to find them in humans, and experts are warning that "it could take a long time to translate the new work to human cells." Just a quick note, Chris, I try to encourage the phrase "use embryonic stem cells" rather than "destroy embryonic stem cells." I think when we say destroy in that context, we play into the picture the religious right wants to paint, rather than what is actually happening.
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Chris OConnor	Re: Stem cells from skin cells	#3	[url]	[-]
Indisputable BookTalk Master Posts: 9504 06/07/07 17:31:38 BookTalk Owner	Excellent point, Rose! I'll make an effort to use the right terms next time. Wow, if it really might take a few decades to figure out this new process we are indeed wasting our time. Embryonic stem cells are readily available right now.
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garicker	Re: Stem cells from skin cells	#4	[url]	[-]
Posts: 262 06/08/07 18:18:31 Smarty Pants	Given the tremendous potential for stem cell research, I'm for using all possible resources. I have yet to hear anyone offer a moral justification for wasting the estimated 400,000 human blastocysts that are now in cryogenic storage and will ultimately be discarded instead of using them for research that could lead to therapies and cures for some of the most debilitating diseases known to humankind. As I note in my book, "It is a strange morality indeed that evinces more concern for 5-day-old human embryos than for walking, talking human beings." George "Godlessness is not about denying the existence of nonsensical beings. It is the starting point for living life without them." Godless in America by George A. Ricker
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