Adult stem cells are the way to go
Michigan is not only going to be the next battle ground in the presidential primaries, it is also going to be the battle ground for the controversial embryonic stem cell research issue.
With the worldwide ground-breaking news this past November that adult skin cells had been reprogrammed to act like embryonic cells, the end of embryo destructive research and human cloning immediately began. “It’s going to completely change the field,” said Dr. James Thompson, the scientist who first isolated embryonic stem cells in 1998 and a lead researcher who discovered the skin cell advancement.
Despite this promising turn toward stem cell research that does not clone or kill human embryos, a small number of elected officials in Lansing continue to salivate over research that would encourage just such.
Measures soon to be voted on by the House Judiciary Committee would close the book on Michigan’s 30-year policy of protecting human embryos from being destroyed, and would allow for human embryos that were cloned in other states to be trafficked here for destructive purposes.
Rather than moving forward with now seemingly antiquated and highly controversial legislation, legislators would be well served to regroup and vigorously support and encourage stem cell research that is both ethical and proven. Two years ago, legislation was enacted with bipartisan support that created a statewide network of umbilical cord blood banks. Yet too few people are aware that bone marrow and umbilical cord blood are rich sources of adult stem cells that treat, even cure, dozens of different diseases, including sickle cell anemia.
Come now people, this sure seems like a well worth compromise. Everyone is always talking about how they hate partisanship and this seems to be a chance to reconcile the two sides in one of the most heated controversies of our time. Everyone would be a winner.
