Human embryonic stem cell lines are cultures of human cells. Many scientists believe in their potential to cure diseases and repair human tissues. Beginning in 2001, President Bush limited federal funding for stem cell research to only those few cell lines approved by him.
Richard Hynes: The cell lines that Bush had approved are really not very good. And so the people who have been able to work on them with federal funding – they were inhibited by the fact that they weren’t dealing with the best cells that they should have been.
That’s MIT professor Richard Hynes, who in 2005 helped the U.S. National Academy of Sciences create guidelines for stem cell use. He’s speaking about President Barack Obama’s 2009 move to lift Bush’s limits on stem cell research.
Richard Hynes: They’ll now be able to do that, to work on all these multiple cell lines that are out there and will be approved. And it will be more funding for more people.
Bush had approved 21 already-existing stem cell lines. In 2009, the National Institutes of Health is considering the use of about 700 new cell lines, Hynes said.
Richard Hynes: Those lines can be available to anyone who requests them. In many cases, scientists will make lines available to other people, so everyone can use the best materials. And that’s what will be possible now.
Over the past few years, scientists continued to use private funding to create new stem cell lines. Hynes said the new federal regulations will increase the pace of progress in stem cell research. For example, the increased number of stem cell lines will let scientists in different labs compare results.
Our thanks to:
Richard Hynes
Daniel K. Ludwig Professor for Cancer Research,
Investigator, Howard Hughes Medical Institute
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Boston, MA
It’s disappointing to see that Earth & Sky is serving as a clear voice for amorality, with your promotion of embryonic stem cell research without any recognition of the moral dimension of using human embryos as raw material for research. Your lead line about President Bush is also false: He did not limit funding for “stem cell research,” but only for EMBRYONIC stem cell research. There has never been any limitation on research for adult stem cell lines, which are the ONLY stem cells that have actually produced medical treatments. (By the way, the limitation was even stricter under President Clinton.)
“Many scientists believe in…” is an unconsciously appropriate line—it’s a matter of faith, not reality, and extravagant claims far beyond any likely reality are all too commonly made.
Scientists acting without moral principles are what gave us the Tuskegee Syphilis Study, not to mention Dr. Josef Mengele. As a scientific matter, a human embryo is a living, separate member of homo sapiens. To treat them as mere raw material for experimentation is profoundly immoral.
I usually enjoy listening to Earth and Sky, but Richard Hynes’s comments did not seem to qualify as a clear voice. The use of human embryonic stem cells is a complex issue, raising moral and ethical questions. Today’s program did not account for the consequences that must be felt from the implementation of this research. I hope the foreseen benefits may be discovered using cells other than from human embryos.
I usually enjoy listening to Earth and Sky, but Richard Hynes’s comments did not seem to qualify as a clear voice. The use of human embryonic stem cells is a complex issue, raising moral and ethical questions. Today’s program did not account for the consequences that must be felt from the implementation of this research. I hope the foreseen benefits may be discovered using cells other than from human embryos.
There are 100’s of scientific studies that have been done on AFA and our product StemEnhance. There are also 100’s of scientific papers on Adult Stem Cell therapy. I have listed quite a few on my blog that you can read at http://www.phyl247.biz You can also find the book over at Amazon.com that Christian Drapeau wrote. It is called “The Stem Cell Theory of Renewal” Take a look if you would like to talk feel free to email or call me anytime 877-696-8581
Bush did not prohibit the use of embryonic stem cells. He stopped the Federal financing of such research. Let us be honest about what we are saying.
It is none of the Federal Government’s business what folks do research on. Federal funding is unconstitutional and immoral. Not because of the embryo, but because it is immoral to steal money from oen person and give it to another, regardless of use, morality or not.
We are living in the last of what has been a great capitalistic experiment. As we descend into socialism, none of this stuff will matter. Survival of the living will be the important issue. Our food supplies will dissappear, our medical system will soon rival that of Cuba and what we know as freedom will be but a memory.
Keep this in mind: “If government is the answer, it is a stupid question.” Also: “If you take the man’s money, you will take his orders.”