Stem Cell Research Essential

By: Evan Barry

Posted: 10/3/05

Imagine the following scenario. You're 40 years old, and someone in your family has just been diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease. This person is your father, the same man who taught you how to play baseball, how to ride a bike and took you fishing on his off-weekends. He worked three jobs in order to support his family and is the closest friend you will ever have. Around 10 years from now, your father will be gone and will never come back. However, these will not be 10 good years.

As he forgets how to brush his teeth, forgets how to comb his hair and even forgets your name, the disease will progress, and as doctors prescribe various drugs such as tacrine or galantamine to slow down disease progression, amyloid plaques will take over his mind and he will never be the same. Essentially, he is already gone before he dies. There is no cure for Alzheimer's disease.

Can't get the picture? Well, how about cancer, heart disease, Parkinson's disease, paralysis or any other degenerative disease that can strike one of your closest loved ones. Eventually, every single one of us will be affected by one of these terrible diseases at some point in our lives, either directly or indirectly. At this point in time, there are no cures for these diseases and treatments only delay the inevitable. However, biomedical research and embryonic stem cell research are making giant strides toward curing or creating better treatments for these diseases. With that said, the state of Connecticut should be a major player in these breakthroughs with the passing of a bill calling for $100 million over the next 10 years for adult and embryonic stem cell research, including the creation of new human cell lines.

Embryonic stem cell research could have a profound impact on the lives of hundreds of thousands of suffering people around the world. With these points in mind, where is the debate over this technology coming from? Who is leading the opposition to embryonic stem cells (ESCs) and therapeutic cloning? To me, it is the Catholic Church, and as a Catholic, many people believe I have a huge dilemma studying ESCs. However, this is not the case. For myself, the issue of ESC research does not involve the church. There is no place for the church in my decision making. The choice to study and design therapies from stem cells must be based on helping our fellow human beings, not pleasing the Catholic Church or any other prospective institution. This leads to the point that not only strict Catholics are against stem cell research, and I understand this. However, it is my belief that all opposition to ESC research manifests from the teachings of one's religion, in addition to ignorance and fear. Growing up in a strict Catholic family, I learned many values I hold sacred, and one of those values is that of helping other people who are in need. Over the past couple years, I have lost faith in the Catholic Church, but have not forgotten what I learned.

Character, my father always told me, is the most important trait a person can possess, and I'm positive my religious upbringing helped form this within myself. I always learned in school about morals and what I should hold sacred. I do not like to see or hear about people suffering from terrifying diseases, and I feel it is our duty as fellow human beings to do everything in our power to help them, even if that means taking an embryo comprised of around 70 cells to derive an ES cell line (one embryo creates an immortal cell line that will produce billions upon billions of stem cells, possibly helping hundreds of thousands of people). As a human, what do you think? Try to put aside the biases toward your church or faith that you have developed throughout your lifetime. Do you believe that an embryo, comprised of around 70 cells, should receive the same respect as your mother or father who could benefit from the possible life saving treatments from ESC research? Will that embryo ever say that it loves you? Will it ever hug you and say your name? These are the essential questions. Does the sanctity of a 1-week-old embryo hold precedence over the life of one of our loved ones? Maybe some of you believe so. And for you, I have a question - think back to the above scenario. The traditional drugs and therapies won't stop disease progression and complete dementia is right around the corner, but your father's doctor offers you an alternative treatment. A stem cell based therapy that can possibly restore his mind. Would you say no to this procedure because a 70-celled embryo was sacrificed in order to develop it? It could possibly be a scenario you will face in the future, and you will have to decide which is more important to you. I know what I would choose.