ethical alternatives
Posted at 1:16pm on Nov. 23, 2007 A Layman's Guide to Recent Stem Cell Developments
By TomlinsonDouthat
Promoted from Diaries by Mark I.
Embryonic stem cells are valuable because they are pluripotent. Pluripotency comes from Latin, roughly meaning "can do many things" (literally, "can do more things"), and in this matter it means that these cells can become almost any other kind of cell. They are basically blank disks: If you give the right information to a disk, it will become, in a way, a word processor or a game or a movie or whatever. In much the same way, if you feed an embryonic stem cell the right information (encoded in chemicals), it can become just about any other kind of cell. And cells like this might be used for all sorts of medical purposes for patients that are in need of a certain, very specific kind of cell.
There are two catches, though. The first is that, once you feed information to the embryonic stem cell "blank disks," you can't overwrite the information. (At least you haven't been able to, as we'll see below.) If you turn an embryonic stem cell into a red blood cell, it stays a red blood cell; and if you turn it into a skin cell, it stays a skin cell. Happily, before you do that, while embryonic stem cells are still embryonic stem cells, you can copy them as many times as you want. So you'll have enough to make whatever you need to make and still have enough left over for future projects.
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Posted in Adult Stem Cells | Embryonic Stem Cell Research | ethical alternatives | Life Issues | stem cells — Comments (113) / Email this page » / Read More »
Posted at 12:00pm on Nov. 21, 2007 Stem Cell Silence from Dem Presidentials
Couldn’t Even Fake It, Huh?
By Mark I
Yesterday’s breakthrough announcement on ethical stem cell research was greeted by statements of praise and skepticism from politicos from the White House, to Capitol Hill, to the campaign trail. But there was a curious silence from the Democratic presidential candidates. Not one issued a press release or made so much as a passing comment on the news. A search of the online news rooms for each of the candidates produced no mentions of stem cells, not even among the lesser candidates who might have used the news to try and draw attention to their campaigns.
These Democrats are the ones who claim to have so much compassion for the suffering and afflicted and who label their political opponents as heartless and cruel. So, why the silence on this advancement? In some cases it could be because the campaigns are seeking a way to appear to praise the announcement while not offending embryonic stem cell research advocates among the their supporters. For Sen. Hillary!™ Clinton and Sen. Barack Obama, it may be because in a crucial vote for ethical stem cell alternatives taken earlier this year, they voted no.
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Posted in 2008 | Barack Obama | Embryonic Stem Cell Research | ethical alternatives | Hillary Clinton | stem cells — Comments (27)/ Email this page » / Read More »
