stem cells

[Cloud No.9]

those clever koreans today managed to make a dna replciated stem cell. what does this mean? it mean we are very close to having a true useable stem cell. very close doesn't mean 10 years it means 2-3. many people inclusing the us government is very against the idea and banned it.

i am all for it. a cure of heart, liver, kidney, lung, alzimher's, parkinson's, motor neuron disease are all possible from this. the potential of stem cells to cure disease is enormous. a stem cell has the potential to cure every known tissue disease and could be the biggest thing for humanity since vaccination and antibiotics.

so why is the us government and lots of pro-life organisations against this? becasue it requires a human embreyo clone to be created. but to put this into context we are not talking a feutus. we are talking of an embreyo smaller than a pin head. and embreyo which would have been killed off not by an abortion but by the morning after pill. that is how small this thing is. yes it might be the building blocks of human life but if you create to for he specific purpose of saving someone is this not a good thing?

[nik0tine]

I am rather uninformed when it comes to this issue, so I have yet to take a real stance. Although, the argument against stem cells seems incredibly difficult to uphold in this instance...

[Destai]

It sounds like theres alot more to it than that.

[rincewind]

I believe that the advantages and possibilities of this research far outweigh the disadvantages. Isn't it better to be able to save thousands of lives in sacrifice of one? Rather than not researching, and have many people die or suffer needlessly?

[The Redneck]

those clever koreans today managed to make a dna replciated stem cell. what does this mean? it mean we are very close to having a true useable stem cell. very close doesn't mean 10 years it means 2-3.

That's a rather momentous development--can I see the info on it?

many people inclusing the us government is very against the idea and banned it.

The US government did not ban stem-cell research. What the US government did is refuse to use tax-payers money for a process that involves the mass-production and destruction of human beings. Private companies in America (the same guys who brought the world the vast majority of its life-saving drugs) are still free to do all the research they want on it--just without government funding.

[DMKA]

The US government did not ban stem-cell research. What the US government did is refuse to use tax-payers money for a process that involves the mass-production and destruction of human beings. Private companies in America (the same guys who brought the world the vast majority of its life-saving drugs) are still free to do all the research they want on it--just without government funding.

This is correct.

[DocFrance]

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/7904332/

[DarkLadyNyara]

Here is the choice as I see it- Take the excess embryos from fertility clinics ect. and use them to potentially save lives, or destroy them. Seems like a no-brainer, but that's just me.

[DMKA]

See, the thing is, some seem to think that the embryos are just people killing them specifically for stem cell research....when that's not the case.

I mean, I personally don't like the thought of that really, to be perfectly honest...but I'm intellegent enough to see that letting so many people die/live in a dead body and using what could of been a person but will not be now...well, it's completely obvious to me which one is for the good of humanity.

Of course, I can see where some people would just be turned off by it, but then, alot of people were turned of by integration too.

[The Redneck]

See, the thing is, some seem to think that the embryos are just people killing them specifically for stem cell research....when that's not the case.

Quite often, that is the case. As Cloud 9 related in the starting post to this thread, it usually involves cloning or otherwise creating a human embryo.

However, stem-cells can be found in many, many other places--most notably the human spinal cord, and the umbilical cord of newborns. And in the case of these cells, the largest obstacle (stopping the body from rejecting the foreign tissue) is already overcome, because these cells come from the patient's body.

Of course, I can see where some people would just be turned off by it, but then, alot of people were turned of by integration too.

Please. We are talking about stem-cell research, not integration, and trying to link your opponents to racists does absolutely nothing to help your argument.

[nik0tine]

Please. We are talking about stem-cell research, not integration, and trying to link your opponents to racists does absolutely nothing to help your argument.

He isn't linking them to racists, he is linking them to ignorant idiots. The point he made had nothing to do with integration, and everything to do with stem cell research. His point was valid.

[fire_of_avalon]

So how about we keep talk of integration out of the conversation altogether? It has nothing to do with this topic and all it does is bring up an entirely unrelated scenario of ignorance. And contrary to what some believe, not all ignorance is equal.

This is another issue I'm personally on the fence about. I would have to do some serious research before I could let myself make a steadfast opinion on this. However, I do believe that the current embryos that are just sitting there and will eventually decay into nothingness could be used for the greater good. I think. Maybe. Gah.

[-N-]

Just because the media doesn't report that creating stem cells without destroying embryos is possible doesn't mean that it isn't possible, ya know. Sign up for a scientific community membership if you actually care.

[Cloud No.9]

what we first need to decide is what embroyos are. are they life? well techincally yes in as much as anything else of that size or type is. is it human life? no it is potential human life. is killing it exceptional? no that's what the moring after pill does? is the morning after pill wrong?

you need to remember exactly what is being used here we are not talking about 5 month old feotuses.

and what are the good that comes out of this? a cure for all tissue diseases and damage. we are literally talking about making the blind see and the paralzyed walk. effects from strokes and major head injuries cured in weeks. brain conditions cured at time of diagnosis. and ned to heart disease deaths, lung disease.

it may be possible to take atem cells from human spine and umbilical cord but...... it has major major complications and difficulties which is why it has not became possible yet.

[War Angel]

I'd rather save a grown, living human being with friends and family, then to save (or not use) something that is less living than a toe-nail, hair, or a scrap of skin. Simple as that.