Stem Cell Research in the News: My Take

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Update (August 30, 2010)
See also

• "Is it Wrong to Kill One Person on the Chance that Someone Else Might Benefit?"
  (August 30, 2010)

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Normally I read well past the headline in news articles. Today I didn't: and so might have gotten the idea that vital medical research had been dealt a terrible blow by a short-sighted Congress. Stem cell research was blocked, you see.

I trust that America's old-school news media got around, somewhere in their coverage, to explaining what sort of stem cell research was blocked.

I've been around long enough not to hope that they'd also explain why this incredibly important research was stopped.

Stem Cells: Lots of Potential

Stem cells are cells you can find in people who haven't been born yet, people who are adults, and even in our umbilical cords, after we're done with them. There's a good chance that the knack stem cells have for becoming different sorts of tissue will help folks whose bodies aren't working right.¹

"Harvesting Stem Cells" Sounds so Nice

One way to get stem cells is to kill someone and cut out the stem cells.

When you do that to an adult, it's often regarded as murder.

When you kill a baby: as long as the hit is done before we're born, it's quite legal here in America.

Legal, yes: moral, no.

I've discussed this before. (November 2, 2008)

The stem cell research that was blocked was the sort that involves cutting up babies and seeing what can be done with the pieces.

It sounds nicer when terms like "harvesting" are used: plus a bit of linguistic trickery to make it sound like the person who's being sliced and diced wasn't a living baby a few hours earlier.

Isn't the Catholic Church Against Science and Reason?

Two words:

• Gregor
• Mendel

I've discussed this before, too. (June 5, 2010)

About medical research in general, and stem cell research in particular, if the Vatican is against that sort of thing, they've got a funny way of showing it:

• "Stem Cell Research: Backed by the Vatican, No Kidding"
  (April 28, 2010)

Related posts:

• "Science vs. Religion: the Same Tired Old Line"
  (June 5, 2010)
• " 'Artificial' Bacteria, Genetics, the Vatican, and 'Courage With Caution' "
  (May 22, 2010)
• "Stem Cell Research: Backed by the Vatican, No Kidding"
  (April 28, 2010)
• "Donating Umbilical Cord Blood: Good Idea!"
  (June 15, 2009)
• "Stem Cell Research: Change Some of Us Won't Live With"
  (March 9, 2009)
• "Life: It's a Single Issue, and an Important One"
  (November 2, 2008)

In the news:

• "Pro-life groups laud decision to block embryonic stem cell research"
  Catholic News Agency (August 23, 2010)

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¹Update (August 24, 2010)

One reason that medical researchers want to kill babies and chop them up is that 'embryonic' stem cells are easier to grow than those found in adults. And they're pluripotent - able to grow into any sort of tissue. Quite convenient, both ways.

According to the National Institutes of Health:

"...Human embryonic and adult stem cells each have advantages and disadvantages regarding potential use for cell-based regenerative therapies. One major difference between adult and embryonic stem cells is their different abilities in the number and type of differentiated cell types they can become. Embryonic stem cells can become all cell types of the body because they are pluripotent. Adult stem cells are thought to be limited to differentiating into different cell types of their tissue of origin...."
("Stem Cell Basics," Stem Cell Information, National Institutes of Health)

Clear enough. Here's the last sentence in that paragraph, with emphasis:

"...Adult stem cells are thought to be limited to differentiating into different cell types of their tissue of origin...."
("Stem Cell Basics," Stem Cell Information, National Institutes of Health)

I don't think it's very unfair to summarize that portion of the NIH's remarks as "it's easier to grow stem cells we've taken from murdered babies: and besides, we think adult stem cells probably wouldn't be quite as useful."

Sounds disgusting, when I put it that way. Use lots of words, many of them very long and derived from Latin: and folks may tend to forget what's done to get those "embryonic" stem cells.