Stem cell deja vu.Byline: The Register-Guard The lead performers in the national embryonic stem cell Embryonic stem cells (ES cells) are stem cells derived from the inner cell mass of an early stage embryo known as a blastocyst. Human embryos reach the blastocyst stage 4-5 days post fertilization, at which time they consist of 50-150 cells. ES cells are pluripotent. drama no longer need to read from prepared scripts. They know their parts by heart. As it has done before, the House of Representatives voted 247-176 last week to remove President Bush's limits on federal funding of embryonic stem cell research, sending the bill to the White House. As Bush has said before, "If this bill were to become law, American taxpayers would for the first time in our history be compelled to support the deliberate destruction of human embryos. For that reason, I will veto the bill." As was the case before, there aren't enough votes in the House and Senate to muster the necessary two-thirds majorities to override Bush's veto. And, just like every other time the issue has been debated in Congress, the fact that the bill would allow funding only for research on excess embryos produced by fertility clinics Fertility clinics are staffed medical clinics that assist couples, and sometimes individuals, who want to become parents but for medical reasons have been unable to achieve this goal via the natural course. and donated willingly by the parents didn't penetrate the ideological armor of opponents. Even scientists are beginning to repeat their parts in the play, though only coincidentally co·in·ci·den·tal adj. 1. Occurring as or resulting from coincidence. 2. Happening or existing at the same time. co·in . Last year, the stem cell stem cell In living organisms, an undifferentiated cell that can produce other cells that eventually make up specialized tissues and organs. There are two major types of stem cells, embryonic and adult. debate was temporarily transformed by an announcement that researchers had created new embryonic stem cells without destroying the host embryos. It turned out that the research didn't exactly deliver on its initial promise. Last week, as the House debate was under way, three groups of researchers announced that they had reprogrammed cells from the tips of mouse tails to behave in a virtually identical fashion to embryonic stem cells. If the new technique works with humans - and researchers believe that it would - a limitless amount of stem cells stem cells, unspecialized human or animal cells that can produce mature specialized body cells and at the same time replicate themselves. Embryonic stem cells are derived from a blastocyst (the blastula typical of placental mammals; see embryo), which is very young could be obtained without the ethical constraints that have obstructed ob·struct tr.v. ob·struct·ed, ob·struct·ing, ob·structs 1. To block or fill (a passage) with obstacles or an obstacle. See Synonyms at block. 2. stem cell research in the United States United States, officially United States of America, republic (2005 est. pop. 295,734,000), 3,539,227 sq mi (9,166,598 sq km), North America. The United States is the world's third largest country in population and the fourth largest country in area. . But the researchers quickly added that a similar breakthrough with human cells could be years away and that research on human embryonic stem cells should continue. That's the message Americans should take from Act III of the stem cell drama. Efforts to advance the understanding of embryonic stem cells must continue on all fronts. Whether it comes via a scientific breakthrough, a veto-proof majority in Congress or a new president, the federal government should be supporting this life-saving research. |
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