Understanding Stem Cell Research
- Cloning basically describes 3 different procedures.
- And each procedures produces 3 very different results.
- The first is a solution for infertility problems.
- The second is cloned animals, like Dolly the sheep.
- The last is stem cell research on life-threatening diseases like diabetes, Parkinson's and many others.
Why The Confusion?
- One major problem is definitions. I speak 14 industries fluently. And they are undoubtedly all different languages. Take just one example.
- These words running across a computer screen in front of a unit secretary on a hospital floor means she has been written up for discipline. And that write-up is now a black mark in her personnel file. Abort sounds to her like abortion...maybe even her termination.
- To a computer person, though, these words are not menacing. They mean that a computer program has stopped itself. And the computer has told the computer department about the problem.
- And just like words took on new or different meaning when computers came into our world, the same is true of science.
- Unfortunately, scientists have used the term "cloning" loosely. It means something entirely different to them than to the general public. When we hear the word, we see rooms full of babies that look alike waiting for an evil scientist to harvest their organs. And we shudder.
- When scientists hear the word “cloning”, they see 5 or 10 cells duplicating.
- Another word that is confusing. "Embryonic" does NOT mean fetus.
- It does NOT embryo like we mean it in infertility clinics.
- It does NOT even mean a fertilized egg.
- It refers to the first part of a process that MAY continue on to becoming an embryo. Or not.
In Artificial Sexual Reproduction
- Couples undergoing infertility treatment choose in vitro (different from normal, artificial) fertilization.
- This is called in vitro fertilization (IVF). Here a sperm and an egg are united (fertilized) and result in a cell which grows into what we think of as an embryo.
- The embryo is then incubated by placing it in a woman's uterus. And at that point the embryo becomes a fetus and eventually a child.
- For people who believe life begins at inception, part of their definition is missing.
- The full statement should be, "Life begins when a sperm fuses with an egg and is in the womb."
- This is part of the definition was omitted, because when the Bible was written, there was no other possibility even imagined.
- Interestingly, there are other Bible literalists who believe that life begins when the “blood quickens” which occurs when a fetus is about 17 days old.
When Embryos Do Not Become A Fetus
- Out of all the embryos created through sexual intercourse, approximately three out of four do not last long enough to produce a baby.
- About half of all the fertilized eggs are lost even before a woman misses her first period after conception.
- More embryonic cells are created in vitro than needed in infertility clinics, to make certain the couple has every chance of success.
- The extras are stored in special canisters at a very low temperature.
- If they are not used, these embryonic stem cells are destroyed.
- We don't know yet how long these embryonic stems will remain in good shape. Over time they may well deteriorate.
- Fertilization clinics destroy embryos; because the patients, who own them, do not need them, and clinics cannot store them forever. As in most businesses, the bottom line is key. Most often the patients' wishes are followed. This leads to the stem cells being:
- Discarded as medical waste and placed into a medical waste bin for pickup and incineration.
- Flushed down a sink.
- Allowed to thaw, which kills them in no more than three or four days
Cloning Animals
- The second use of stem cells occurred when Dolly the sheep was cloned in 1997.
- Scientists created what was her genetic twin, although not when twins usually occur.
- First scientists find an animal they want to bear the clone.
- This animal donates a cell.
- The DNA removed from that cell.
- A nucleus is added from the animal scientists want to clone.
- In the third step, scientists implant the modified cell into the womb.
- But even after 40 plus years of research, this procedure is still not perfect.
- Regarding Dolly, scientists don't know if she will be healthy or not.
- The act of animal cloning could well cause weakness that lead to diseases.
- Few species have been cloned. They include: sheep, cattle, pigs, goats, cats, and mice.
- People who want to clone pets may be disappointed to find that the cloned twin may not even look like their original pet.
Why Cloning Is Unsafe for Humans
- Cloning is unsafe, unethical, and unnecessary for humans.
- Why? Very few cloning attempts are successful.
- Many cloned animals die during the pregnancy.
- Many cloned animals die soon after birth.
- Those that survive often have severe birth defects.
- The female carrying the fetus may die from clone-related complications.
More about Why Cloning Cannot Be Used in Humans
- A cell must divide between 8 and 10 times for it to be placed in a woman‘s womb.
- And every time a cell divides, it ages. The number needed for cloning is greater than that needed in fertility clinics.
- We don't know if aging affects the ability of stem cells to develop normally.
- There is only a limited number of times these cells can divide.
- When Dolly was 5 1/2 years old, she acquired arthritis, which may be caused by her cloning
- Cloned mice die significantly earlier than those born through more natural conception.
- The National Bioethics Advisory Commission said in 1997, that it is morally unacceptable to try to create a child using somatic cell nuclear transfer at this time.
- In 2001, the National Academy of Sciences issued a report banning human reproductive cloning.
- Especially because of what has happened to animals in research.
- And because it would be too dangerous for the woman, the fetus, and the newborn.
- And last, it would probably fail.
In Research
- There is no fertilization.
- Instead, scientists take the nucleus out of an unfertilized egg and replace it with the nucleus of a cell that cannot reproduce, like a skin or heart cell.
- If this egg could actually “hatch”, there would be no baby. Instead it will be something like a little heart.
- Stem cell research does not involve a potential baby.
- Unfortunately, scientists call this new growth an "embryo". It is something like an unfertilized chicken egg. An unfertilized chicken egg could not grow a chick, even if it was placed in an incubator.
- Even if a research egg from a woman was placed inside of her womb, a baby could not grow.
- Another point. If a chicken egg is never incubated, it is physically impossible to get a chick. Instead the egg is used to nourish our bodies. So, too, human eggs must grow in the womb.
- In research, scientists take a part of the egg (the nucleus) and replace it with the nucleus of a cell that cannot reproduce, like the heart cell.
- The Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) in 1999, said that human “embryonic” cells are not a human embryo.
- Because they do not have the capacity to develop into humans.
- Even if transferred to a uterus.
- Research is not the destruction of an embryo of a baby.
Why Use Stem Cells?
- Stem cells are unique.
- Because they keep reproducing themselves in our bodies.
- And renewing tissue throughout a person's life.
- They are the most versatile cells.
- And because they are less committed to a specific body part than adult stem cells.
- They offer cures to debilitating and fatal diseases.
- They have been proven to reduce Parkinson's disease in mice.
History
Human cloning became a criminal offense in July 2001. But President Bush made an exception to that law, based upon the DHHS decision, and allowed federal monies to be used in research using 60 stem cell colonies already existing (not those stored for IVF). Unfortunately, these were not all in good shape.
The Final Question
If a fire was raging, and you only had time to save one thing. Would it be a 5-10 celled embryo? Or a child?
