Dec
2
the last post :)
Filed Under Uncategorized | 2 Comments
Ok I know in this particular story stem cells don’t really come into play but imagine if it did. An American man living in Germany was suffering from leukemia and HIV, and after getting a bone marrow transplant –used to “cure” leukemia- has shown no sign of either disease since. The bone marrow was from a donor who apparently had a genetic resistance to HIV, thus curing the man of both. Like I said no mention of stem cells, but IF a donor with this miracle gene donated some (actually probably a lot and a lot of donors) marrow to a facility in theory they could “farm” in a sense this wonder marrow with the stem cells. By injecting the raw, unassigned cells in to the bone marrow the “empty shell” stem cells could duplicate themselves in the exact same cells, HIV resistance and all. Also, another interesting fact, humans grow stem cells in their bone marrow. So could someone donate their HIV resistant bone marrow, have a researcher do some hocus pocus and have a self reproducing HIV cure? Interesting notion huh?
For my closing argument ,if you will, I would like to say that stem cells are only going to bring hope and health to our country given that the new administration is for the research. With the hopeful new medical breakthrough era approaching I only hope that people can see past the “controversy” and see what good it can bring. Curing paralysis, HIV/AIDS, leukemia, kidney disease, liver disease, growing new organs the possibilities are endless.
Nov
19
the other day in my strategies class…
Filed Under Uncategorized | 3 Comments
The other day in my strategies class we had a few mock debates. We were told to write two controversial questions on a piece of paper, fold it up, and hand it to the teacher, of course one of mine was “what do you think of stem cell research?” Half my class didn’t even know what it was or understand it at all so I explained it to everyone and as expected they thought I was crazy. So after I explained it two people had to volunteer to debate about it, one for and one against, no one volunteered for either. So I ended up just answering questions and arguing with a few people, including my teacher. She’s a very religious person I think so obviously I didn’t get much time to defend my ideas and beliefs but all the “oh my gosh it’s a baby!” people got all the time they wanted. No one could really grasp the idea of how much could be accomplished with the furthering of stem cell research. This one girl who sits two seats in front of me asked me first what it was and I started to explain when someone interrupted me and said “it’s when they use dead babies to do experiments,” this girl got the most horrified look on her face and after that wouldn’t listen to a thing I said. I seriously don’t understand why people think all stem cell research is, is dead babies and pro-abortion. If people would just realize that it’s not just aborted fetuses, it goes MUCH deeper than that AND that if an aborted fetus is thought of being used there are very strict guidelines and rules that must be followed. Also that stem cells can also come from human bone marrow AFTER we’re born, and embryos made for IVF that are willingly donated to a company. I swear people are so close minded; I know and understand that it is a difficult thing to wrap your head around but here the good far outweighs the bad.
Nov
18
my thoughts on Obama being elected
Filed Under Uncategorized | 4 Comments
Now that we have a future president in favor of stem cell research and can see past the controversy to the real good and hope it can bring, I believe many people are going to be cured of many once un-curable diseases. Barack Obama will hopefully make it ok for people to believe in and support stem cell research. He’ll make sure the labs have the proper funding, and can do what they need to do. People will be able to possibly be cured of paralysis, HIV and AIDS, diabetes, leukemia, liver and kidney disease, Alzheimer’s, the list goes on and on. Not just liver or kidneys can be replaced, but almost any failing organ, I couldn’t be more excited; the health care field has always been near and dear to my heart. I know people think “oh my gosh it’s a baby, blah blah blah…” But come on people, people can actually be CURED of paralysis or AIDS, AND aborted fetuses are not the only place to get stem cells. All humans grow them in our bones to make bone marrow. Anyways I believe president elect Obama is going to pull a major over haul on our whole country, and especially the health care world, hopefully making quality health care affordable and stem cell research possible. Only good things are ahead. Seriously, a doctor in Europe has found a way, on accident, to cure HIV/AIDS with a bone marrow transplant - that could be made easier with stem cells. No more waiting lists for organs, soldiers paralyzed in war cured, civilians paralyzed in a car accident cured, it would be a freaking miracle. I know people have reservations because he’s “black”, really he’s only half black. His mother is Hawaiian and he grew up in Illinois people, get real it’s not the 1800’s anymore.
Nov
10
someone else’s article
Filed Under Uncategorized | 1 Comment
I read this article which at first explains where the stem cells come from and what they can do, such as I did in my first few blogs. The article states that the reason stem cell research IS in fact ethical is because the embryos they use for the research only have sixty-four cells, don’t have a brain or nervous system and therefore can not feel pain. Then it goes on to say how seventy members of the US Congress have voted against stem cell research funding, and how apparently the Catholics got the American Cancer Society to even drop its support of the Patients’ Cure coalition which was a big lobby-er for stem cell research.
He main reason people like to claim that stem cell research is unethical is because they think the human embryo is a human being, granted the embryo is the pre-cursor to the being it is NOT the same thing. The article also says the same thing I said in one of my first blogs, that it is a gamble, the decision of whether or not to use the embryo should be based on how the “person” is not what. And obviously you can’t figure that out until it’s far too late, so why not just use the discarded embryo. This article makes another interesting point, that people make a much bigger hoopla about stem cells than they do animal testing, the author states that the embryo hasn’t and isn’t conscience, has no preferences, and it has no brain, where as rats are fully aware of pain, fear, ect.
Oct
30
What my family thinks
Filed Under Uncategorized | 1 Comment
My younger brother, Nikko, didn’t know anything about stem cell research. After I explained it to him he said that using the donated fetus was ok but he personally doesn’t believe in abortion, UNLESS the pregnancy was a result of rape. He’s a very conservative person. But also he’s only fourteen, I’m sure he’ll change his mind by the time he turns eighteen. My dad thinks stem cell research is good because he thinks it’s “going to advance us as a species and make us live longer.” He thinks the research should be done through donated umbilical cord blood, not aborted fetuses, he also does not believe in abortion. My mom doesn’t agree with it all, she thinks the scientists are playing God. So as it turns out I’m the only full fledged stem cell supporter in my family.
My reaction to the whole thing wasn’t very surprised, I know how my family feels and I really am the only one who thinks different. My family is very traditional and conservative whereas I’m very “scientifical”, if you will. I’ve always been a science nerd and think every and any advance in science is a great thing. Every new medicine, every new breakthrough is a great achievement of man kind.
As for the future I severely hope that our country becomes more accepting and understand and supportive of stem cell research. With this election I pray that our country will make the right choice and go for some real change, change that will turn our country around and help everyone. Help everyone financially, medically, and help everyone gain the education the deserves and need to compete in today’s work environment.
Oct
19
Where the Candidates Stand
Filed Under Uncategorized | 1 Comment
Presidential candidate Barack Obama is for the advancement of stem cell research. Apparently he has always seen the life saving potential in the unwanted embryos. If elected he plans to do all he can to advance all biomedical research, and fund it best he can.
Way back in the day in Illinois he tried to make it legal in his home state.
He knows about the cord blood and the adult stem cells but he also knows that there is not an alternative that is as potent. He is also aware of the major controversy surrounding stem cell research, so he will be sure to ensure that the researchers and everyone involved with the research adhere to strict ethical boundaries.
As president he would do all in his power to make sure that every American has the chance to receive the benefits of the prevention, early detection, and treatment of many life threatening diseases.
Presidential candidate John McCain however believes that stem cells are immoral and doesn’t support the research at all. He recognizes the benefits, and that there are many Americans dying and suffering for no reason. His website quotes, “Stem cell research offers tremendous hope for those suffering from a variety of deadly diseases - hope for both cures and life-extending treatments. However, the compassion to relieve suffering and to cure deadly disease cannot erode moral and ethical principles.” He has standard conservative views and beliefs, respect that but I just can’t see why. Funny thing is though his website goes on to also say, “To sacrifice for a cause greater than yourself, and to sacrifice your life to the eminence of that cause, is the noblest activity of all.” Go figure… All my info for this blog came directly from their websites.BarackObama.com JohnMcCain.com
Oct
15
Someone else’s blog….
Filed Under Uncategorized | Leave a Comment
This blog is quit interesting in fact; it’s from someone in Michigan where some group called MiCAUSE that wants to pass a new law type thing that allows stem cell research in Michigan. BUT there’s this other group -name unknown- who severely oppose it and are making these TV ads that spread “F.U.D” (Fear, Uncertainty, and Doubt). The author of this blog is completely infuriated and thinks who ever made up the ads is a moron. One of these ads tell people that there is going to be more taxes to fund the research, and apparently Michigan is hurting pretty bad right now, I guess a little worse than everyone else. Another suggests that the proposal will allow companies to buy and sell human eggs and embryos. And the last one posted says that the bill will allow and condone the creation of human-animal hybrids. The issues at hand in these insane commercials are all addressed in the proposal but are all denied. The VERY FIRST line states, “ARTICLE 1, Section 27. (1) Nothing in this section shall alter Michigan’s current prohibition on human cloning.” Basically it’s still illegal and they don’t intend on doing it at all. The bill also no where asks for and mentions anything about any new taxes for funding. Also it states that no one can be paid for their eggs/embryos, pushed to donate them, except any compensation, or demand any compensation. And if someone were be found not abiding by that particular section they will probably have a run in with the law. The only thing the proposal proposes is: “(2) To ensure that Michigan citizens have access to stem cell therapies and cures, and to ensure that physicians and researchers can conduct the most promising forms of medical research in this state, and that all such research is conducted safely and ethically, any research permitted under federal law on human embryos may be conducted in Michigan, subject to the requirements of federal law and only the following additional limitations and requirements:…” The bill itself requires that the embryos acquired for research were the ones that would only be thrown away if not donated, and that they can’t be past a certain maturity.
Oct
11
The Rest of the Facts
Filed Under Uncategorized | 1 Comment
Legal Issues:
There really aren’t any laws preventing the use and research on embryonic stem cells. There is a Congressional ban on the use of embryos but embryonic stem cells do not fall under it. Even though it’s not illegal many people think it’s wrong so they still don’t have anything to do with the research. I have no idea who wrote this article but these few sentences I found very fitting, “Nevertheless, it is important to remember that research on already aborted fetuses does not cause women to have abortions. Requests for donations are made only after the woman has decided upon abortion, and she receives no compensation for the donation. To say that fetal research causes abortions is a bit like saying that a need for donor organs causes murders. Research on embryos and fetuses that would otherwise be thrown away does not cause indignity to human life. On the contrary, it dignifies life by perhaps helping to save others. “
Need for organs:
Eleven years ago over fifty thousand people were waiting for an organ transplant; four thousand of them died waiting. Because of the massive amount of deaths a hand full of bioethicists have even proposed paying the families of the ones that couldn’t wait. But they were shot down in fear of making the human body a commodity. Another failed attempt to lessen the load of human organs needed would be the efforts of the scientists who have tried to develop organs in animals capable of being used in humans. They would grow and adapt the animal and it’s organs as so to make it possible to live and work in a human body with out rejection, this was the initial reason for cloning sheep. In Asia a black market has even evolved for human organs. The United States and Austria have both avoided the enforcement of “mandatory donation”. Although in most cases, in both countries, mandatory donation does show up somewhere. An individual can opt out of donation before death, but if some one is an organ donor but it is against the families wishes it can and usually is bypassed.
Another great quote from this article: “Growing organs from human embryonic stem cells could avoid the ethical problems inherent in paying or legally coercing families to allow use of the deceased’s organs, and could save thousands of lives a year. “
Oct
1
I’m Excited
Filed Under Uncategorized | 3 Comments
Strange fact, I do know enough about stem cells, where they come from, what they’re used for, how they do it, but it’s just basic stuff. So now I’m excited to go a little more in depth, and earn some new things. First the stem cells have to taken from a “pre-embryo” or “blastocyst” which is the term for an embryo before fourteen days and composed of only fifteen to twenty cells. After fourteen days the cells start to separate into body and placenta cells, and after that point they loose their ability to be grown into something else. The necessary state for stem cells to be used is called “pluripotent” which means they can be grown in to many different body parts, or “totipotent” which means they can be grown in to ANY part of the body. Other cells of a fetus include the “germ cells” which are the precursors of the sperm and egg, used to carry parents’ genes on to the next generation; these cells remain pluripotent and can be used for anything. The stem cells can be used forever and can be grown and multiplied in a lab and the germ cells supposedly are the equivalent but do the controversy and non-funding that fact is yet to be proven. Researcher are unable to do the vital tests to find out further information such as ,how make actual medically usable transplantable organs, and how to make a specific organ, and how reduce the risk of rejection from a recipients body, because of the fact that no-one wants anything to do with stem cell research and biotechnology companies are funding their own research, but can only do so much with out the necessary funding or support.
Basically these scientists can get usable cells and almost know what to do, but they don’t know how to “program” the cells to make them in to usable life saving organs. Some people think it’s bad some thing it’s good, but flat out the point is it can save lives.
Sep
24
Why I Chose This Topic
Filed Under Uncategorized | 3 Comments
I chose this topic because I’m a huge science nerd. But none-the-less I personally think it is completely amazing how a person can actually “farm” in a sense human organs.
Where the stem cells come from seems to be the more controversial aspect rather the actual making of the organs and the “playing God” part. I don’t think using a fetus that no-one wanted anyways to save someone else’s life. It’s a matter of who’s life is more important, the child who could’ve grown up to be a great doctor, scientist, humanitarian, or whatever but also he/she could be the next Hitler, you never know. Whereas if you give a person a second chance at life, even if they aren’t a good person, that kind of thing usually changes people. But unfortunately you can’t know who’s going to be who, stem cell research is one big gamble, but i think it’s a chance worth taking.
I know being a female people are going to say “Oh my God!! How can you say that?? I f you were pregnant and didn’t want the baby would you have an abortion and send it to stem cell research?” and the answer would be yes, if i didn’t want the child, and I was in a bad situation I’d rather the fetus go to possibly saving someone’s life rather than being stuck with one teenage parent, or an adoptive family because they don’t always turn out happy.
Crazy thing–I’m also very pro-adoption, but also think IVF is totally awsome. But I also hate it when people have kids in a bad situation and don’t take care of them right, while there’s people out there who can’t have biological children of their own; and there’s people out there who take advantage of their kids.