We shouldn't kill embryos for science.Byline: GUEST VIEWPOINT By Gayle Atteberry For The Register-Guard In his July 29 guest viewpoint, Thomas Brownhill argues the morality of 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. research. We all eagerly await cures for diseases that affect our loved ones, and most scientists agree there is great potential in 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. research. However, as we seek to improve medical treatment, we must not lose sight of the inherent value of each human life. Adult stem cells are currently curing or treating over 45 diseases, with more cures imminent. Adult stem cells are found in every type of human tissue, including bone marrow, nasal tissue and fat. Umbilical cord blood umbilical cord blood Transplantation A source of primitive and stem cells that can be used to reconstitute BM destroyed by aplastic anemia or by RT or chemotherapy for CA, lymphoproliferative malignancies. See Bone marrow transplantation, Stem cell therapy. is another rich source for 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 . Brownhill's column reveals that he apparently does not know what every medical researcher knows: Each embryo is a unique human life. The embryo - with 46 human chromosomes and DNA DNA: see nucleic acid. DNA or deoxyribonucleic acid One of two types of nucleic acid (the other is RNA); a complex organic compound found in all living cells and many viruses. It is the chemical substance of genes. that has already programmed the makeup of the little life - is a living human being. Each of us was once a human embryo. Embryonic stem cells can be obtained only by killing living human embryos, and have not proven successful in even one human medical experiment. Embryonic stem cells are unpredictable in their growth - many times growing so rapidly as to cause tumors in patients who have volunteered for medical experiments. Alzheimer's, a disease that Brownhill excitedly promotes as one which embryonic stem cells could cure, is admitted by researchers to be among the least likely diseases to benefit from stem cell research - either adult or embryonic. Brownhill argues we should use existing frozen embryos for the "greater good" instead of letting them languish at in vitro fertilization in vitro fertilization (vē`trō, vĭ`trō), technique for conception of a human embryo outside the mother's body. Several ova, or eggs, are removed from the mother's body and placed in special laboratory culture dishes (Petri dishes); clinics. Currently, 400,000 frozen embryos are stored in clinics around the U.S. More than 97 percent are being held for further use of the parents. Many of the others are available for adoption by infertile in·fer·tile adj. Not capable of initiating, sustaining, or supporting reproduction. infertile, adj unable to produce offspring. couples. There are many healthy toddlers who were once adopted as frozen embryos. The reality of using embryos at in vitro in vitro /in vi·tro/ (in ve´tro) [L.] within a glass; observable in a test tube; in an artificial environment. in vi·tro adj. In an artificial environment outside a living organism. clinics for research is that scientific demand for embryos will quickly use up the supply. That is why scientists are eagerly pursuing cloning. The majority of Americans find cloning for the purpose of creating babies (reproductive cloning reproductive cloning n. The genetic duplication of an existing organism especially by transferring the nucleus of a somatic cell of the organism into an enucleated oocyte. ) repugnant REPUGNANT. That which is contrary to something else; a repugnant condition is one contrary to the contract itself; as, if I grant you a house and lot in fee, upon condition that you shall not aliens, the condition is repugnant and void. Bac. Ab. Conditions, L. ; however, they are ambivalent about cloning for research purposes (therapeutic cloning therapeutic cloning n. A procedure in which damaged tissues or organs are repaired or replaced with genetically identical cells that originate from undifferentiated stem cells. ). The cloning process for both reproductive and therapeutic cloning is identical. Cloning always creates a live human embryo. In reproductive cloning, the live human embryo is placed in a mother's womb; in therapeutic cloning, the human embryo is placed in a scientist's test tube. In therapeutic cloning, the human embryo is created for the sole purpose of experimentation. Using stem cells from cloned human embryos is a distant possibility, and even if human clones ever successfully yield stem cells, experiments with them will be fraught with most of the same problems as experiments with stem cells from frozen embryos. Brownhill's argument ends by comparing war with the destruction of human embryos. If some call war moral, he ask, why shouldn't embryonic stem cell research be moral? While this column is not intended to be a defense of war, the issue relevant to Brownhill's comparison is worth mentioning: the risk of death. Any soldier going to war faces a risk of dying. However, proportionally, the number of soldiers in a war to the actual number of deaths is relatively small. In embryonic stem cell research, the embryo's risk of death is a certainty - 100 percent. In war, we use armor and weapons and do everything to help a soldier avoid death and maximize his chance for survival. Embryonic stem cell research, where death to the human embryo is certain, can be avoided. We have an alternate way for research - an ethical way, and a way that is already working: adult stem cell research. Gayle Atteberry of Eugene is executive director of Oregon Right to Life. |
|
||||||||||||||||
Printer friendly
Cite/link
Email
Feedback
Reader Opinion