On Tuesday, the Texas Senate Health and Human Services Committee heard invited and public testimony on stem cell research. I was one of those invited, and brought my Granddaughter who has had an umbilical cord bone marrow stem cell transplant. (The video is here, about 6 hours in.)
One of the speakers used the old story about the drunk looking for his keys under the corner lamppost, rather than over in the dark, where he lost his keys. The speaker, a pediatrician who believes that life begins when the mother wants it to, was using the story as an analogy in favor of funding for embryonic stem cell therapy as opposed to funds for non-embryonic stem cell research.
But, look at the evidence. Every stem cell therapy actually uses *adult* stem cells and progenitor cells. The goal of all those embryonic stem cell researchers is to turn the embryonic stem cells into "every cell of the body."
So, why not go to the actual place where there are "the cells of the body"? Sure, a given adult progenitor or stem cell line may not give the full range of stem cells. But the full range of adult progenitor and stem cells will!
Adult stem cells and progenitor cells have been found for most tissues and organ systems. Those are the ones we will use - whether they come from destructive embryonic stem cell research, or from non-destructive non-embryonic stem cell research.
The studies on producing, harvesting and then implanting those cells all lead to immunogenic adult cells. The difficulties associated with identifying and controlling adult cells shouldn't be any more than those associated with obtaining and controlling embryonic stem cells that will function as normal adult cells, without causing an immune response.
How about that: we lost our keys under the lamp post!
Thursday, September 21, 2006
Looking in the right places
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An interesting coincidence - I heard the story in a slightly different version on a podcast last night, though the podcast was some weeks old. It was done in a less subtle way:
A biologist is searching through the grass of his front lawn. A grad student approaches and asks if he has lost something. The biologist explains he is looking for his stem cells.
After much searching, the student asks, "Are you sure you lost them here?"
The biologist explains, "Oh, no, I lost them in my lab - but congress has decreed I may search for stem cells only in places where there are none."
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