Are You a Believer Now?

Well, I hope you have enough information to reach your own conclusions about stem cell research. What I hope I have made clear over the past few months are these arguments:

1) There are too many forms of research for the scientific community to dwell on one area of research, embryonic. If huge breakthroughs occur with umbilical cord blood, fat cells, and destroyed embryos, the government will have to budge and reconsider its strict policies on embryonic stem cell research.

2) If the United States doesn’t invest more money into stem cell research, we will continue to lose the lead in the medical community we once had over other countries like China and the UK.

3) Cloning to use embryonic stem cells is morally unjust. Donate your own stem cells like you donate your own blood. It should be a choice for the donator.

4) Write senators. There are too many high-ranking government officials who are supporters of stem cell research. Let me them know you agree, and are mad that stem cell research is moving within our country at an embarrassing slow pace.

5) And lastly, now that you’re educated on this matter—though it’s cliché—educate others. Speak out in debates and posit the option of using stem cells.

If You Can't Beat 'Em, Go to China!

I never thought of this as an option, but it is definitely viable and also legal for Americans to go to where you can stem cell treatment with little to no governmental influence. It's just a very expensive "plan B" from plane tickets, to hotels, and also the stem cell procedure. One man, Alexander McKenzie Wallace, despite the expense made this trip.

At age 70, Alexander made the trip to China this past September as a last chance to save his life and fight his disease, Ataxia. Ataxia' means ‘absence of order’. People with ataxia have problems of co-ordination. This is because parts of the nervous system that normally control co-ordination and balance are affected. Ataxia is the principal symptom of a group of neurological disorders called the cerebellar ataxias. Most are progressive, meaning your symptoms get worse.

What's most exciting though is watching Alex's improvement. I cannot embed the videos onto my blog but can provide links for you to read his interviews and see his videos. After only a month, Alexander went from only being to walk short distances and then neeeding a rest, to stamina improvement so much he could walk upstairs. His story is truly unbelievable.

Cheese Anyone?

In many of my blogs, I have mentioned how researchers have conducted experiments on mice and concluded their findings could be applied to humans. I didn't understand why until now. According to Dr Jane Rogers, Welcome Trust Sanger Institute, "We share 99% of our genes with mice, and we even have the genes that could make a tail." And not only that but, "The mouse "book of life" reveals that humans and mice share at least 80% of their genes, with only 300 unique to either organism."

America is not the only country conducting research on mice. The UK, China, and Japan, all use mice for scientific research. Scientists can work out what human genes do by "knocking out" similar looking genes in mice and studying the results.
Researchers can also trace the malfunctioning genes responsible for disease by examining sick mice that display symptoms apparently similar to human conditions. If I were you, I would think twice about killing this rodent that and sometimes unwelcome roommate.

Sanchez Supports Stem Cell Research Too

Before I dive into why Loretta Sanchez supports stem cell research, I want to cover something I was not recently aware of. In addition to Bush only allowing stem cell researchers to use damaged embryos, he has limited the supply of embryos available to those stem cell lines that existed when President Bush issued an executive order on August 9, 2001. So, stem cells that were made available after that date cannot be used. Way to abuse your power.

Sanchez is taking her support a step further than other congressmen and senators, and is actually working on a bill called The DeGette-Castle Stem Cell Research Bill. The bill only authorizes the use of stem cell lines generated from embryos that would otherwise be discarded by fertility clinics. Furthermore, the bill includes stronger ethical guidelines than the President’s current policy--something Conservatives should find soothing but overlook.

Did I mention yet that 72% of Americans support this BIPARTISAN bill. That's right, democrats and republicans are actually agreeing. Additionally, almost 3/4 of Americans want to see this bill put into action.

Here's a short list of other congressmen who support stem cell research I compiled in litterally a few minutes; without question, there are more supporters than this. I just wanted to show the positions these officials occupy.

California's Republican governor, Arnold Schwarzenegger,
Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi
Majority Whip James E. Clyburn
Sen. Majority Leader Bill Fris
Sen. John Kerry,
Representative Roscoe Bartlett

These are key power players in the government, and they can't even persuade our president. Sometimes I wonder if I'm wasting my time.

A New and Kind of Gross Trend

Parents are saving their childrens' umbilical cord blood after birth. According to research "A cord blood stem cell transplant with a person's own cord blood stem cells, or that of a sibling, gives your child the greatest possible chance of being cured of their disease." So, I guess it's worthwhile, just a very different practice.

I know you're thinking, "How is this done?"

After your baby is born and the umbilical cord is clamped and cut, your doctor will collect the cord blood using either a syringe or a blood bag. The procedure is safe, painless, and only takes a few minutes.

What's even more interesting is that not only is the newborn a good match for the stem cells, but so is the mother, because she carried the baby for nine months, and so are other siblings. It should also be noted that any family member who is a suitable genetic match may be able to use the stem cells if needed.

Moreover, cord blood can be stored for a long time. Current data reflects that cord blood cells stored for fifteen years have the same composition as they did at the time of storage. All science involving cryogenic storage of cells also indicates that the cells should remain viable indefinitely.

This last statistic is something I find to be most interesting. And although people are leery about interpreting stats, citing it can be manipulated to interpret anything, I would urge them to look beyond their skepticism.

According to medical research, the odds that a child will need to use his or her own stem cells for current uses is 1 in 2,700, and the odds that a family member would need to use those cells are about 1 in 1,400. These odds do not include the emerging use of cord blood stem cells to treat heart disease, diabetes, Parkinson's, Alzheimer's and spinal cord injury. The continued progress would greatly increase the likelihood of use.

Want to Lose Weight???

BBC News reported that, "New nerves grown from stem cells taken from a patient's fat could be available by 2011." Enough of these cells could be used to heal hundreds of people. It's not many, but is definitely a start. Again, the research that produced these results was done on rats--I'm not exactly sure how humans are similar to these disgusting creatures--but still researchers are placing much emphasis on these findings.

According to Professor Giorgio Terenghi UK Centre for Tissue Regeneration,after receiving this stem cell transplant, "The patients will not be able to tell that they had ever 'lost' [the feeling to] their limb." How scientists accomplish this procedure is by extracting stem cells from fat tissue and then coax the cells into
becoming neurons - nerve cells - in the laboratory, which can form into anything.


The frequency of nerve injury is one in every 1,000 of the population. So, in other words, it's a common injury. And we can remedy this issue by not using embryos, so why aren't we? America seriously doesn't mind losing its status as the predominant and once innovative country it use to be. Does everything have to be related to the I-Phone to gain attention? Or can we can focus on health care for a second?