In January, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved the world's first human trials of a therapy derived from human embryonic stem cells. The treatment, intended to repair spinal-cord injury, should be celebrated for the future it gives humankind.
The year 2008 was filled with fear and doubt about the future and the strength of humanity, yet the science community still made astonishing advances. With science funding at an all-time low, we managed to successfully cure a 2-year-old's fatal genetic disease and to remove HIV and leukemia from a 42-year-old using stem-cell transplants.
Scientists also used a dying woman's own stem cells to build her a new trachea, transplanted it back into her body and saved her life.
The advances of 2008 spring from a synergy of technological improvements across many disciplines. The business of quickly identifying the sequence of DNA has become super-charged in the last five years because chemists and biologists have joined forces with computer scientists. The technology of digitizing DNA has provided doctors with the knowledge of which genes need to be replaced and enables them to perform stem-cell transplants with success. Sequencing human genes is now, amazingly, considered run-of-the-mill.
Yet there are plenty of ethical issues related to sharing stem cells between people. Some perceive that embryonic research destroys the human potential of the embryo. They are concerned that once we enter this new territory, it is only a matter of time before we are struggling with unacceptable moral and cultural dilemmas.
The ethical and scientific problems of using embryonic stem cells will soon be a moot point. Scientific advances are giving us other options to heal the sick without using embryos, but for these options to thrive, scientists need to be supported politically.
For example, pluripotent stem cells, like embryonic stem cells, can be turned into every cell type found in the body but without the ethical concerns of using embryos or human eggs. Last year scientists took normal skin cells, reprogrammed them into pluripotent stem cells and turned them into beating heart tissue.
In addition, the technology we have to use a person's own stem cells to fix his or her body carries with it fewer ethical problems.
By appreciating the medical advances of last year, we can see the promise for 2009. A massive sequencing effort will identify most of the human genetic glitches and dormant diseases that today are commonplace. This will allow doctors to locate the sick genes in human bodies and create needed organs and treatments from a patient's own cells before they get sick.
The potential for emerging scientific and medical advances to save lives and prevent disease, pain and suffering is just the start. Such advances could also have a major impact on the health care system as a whole by minimizing sick leave and recovery time and preventing billions in medical costs. But this can happen only with stem-cell research.
The days of cautiously taking care of ourselves will wane as we move medicine, politics and society forward. By embracing stem-cell research as a well-accepted medical practice, we will see the many troubles of aging and disease disappear.
Ryan Mehl engineers proteins with unnatural amino acids to improve their use in science and society. He is Associate Professor of Chemistry at Franklin & Marshall College in Lancaster, Pa.
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It is something I am concerned about, and I am eager for someone to prove me wrong
“With science funding at an all-time low, we managed to successfully cure a 2-year-old's fatal genetic disease and to remove HIV and leukemia from a 42-year-old using stem-cell transplants.
Scientists also used a dying woman's own stem cells to build her a new trachea, transplanted it back into her body and saved her life.”
I am a bet suspicious concerning the reported advance in the stem cells science.
If is true that hen this should be standard procedure in treating those condition.
In my opinion, till this day no one single condition has been successfully treated with stem cells and/or gene therapy.
I think that we need to take a little bet under scrutiny the marketing propaganda of the GENETICS AND STEM CELLS RESEARCH INDUSTRY.
Are you speaking "on a strictly theoretical basis" ?, here.
As far as I know [and please come here and tell me / us of the details, should you know otherwise, if you would be so kind] human embryonic stem cells have never been used, either legally or illegally, anywhere in the world, clinically, in human transplant cases, and I know of of no public announcements for such future planned clinical trials, in human transplant cases.
Are you fully aware of the differences between embryonic stem cells, adult stem cells, and cord blood stem cells ?
The human clinical trial mentioned here, in the spinal cord injury paralysis cases, which are scheduled to be done this summer, are, as far as I know, to be the first legal clinical trials, of embryonic stem cells, to be done, in the US, in ANY types of human medical cases, EVER !
As mentioned in my 3rd paragrph above, I know of no clinical applications of embryonic stem cells that have been utilized in human transplant cases, anywhere in the world, legally or illegally, EVER !
Do you ?
Your daughter sounds like a great young woman !, and I KNOW Franklin and Marshall is a really excellent college.
An older cousin of mine, who I grew up with in Connecticut, and who I'm quite fond of, got a chance to start out at F & M, but [unfortunately, I suppose], academics were not as much of a strong point for him as they were for some others in our family, and I guess he found the whole experience just too academically rigorous for him, and he transferred out, midway, to a college here that I think was better suited to his abilities, and to what he needed at the time, so "I think there's a right place for everyone", and I'm so glad your lovely sounding daughter found her's ! : )
There are SO many great, really academically outstanding, small liberal arts colleges in America ; They really represent a TREASURE to this nation.
I know that so many students seem to thrive at, and really enjoy, the many great large univesities we have across the nation, and "to each his own", of course, but I think "if I had to do it over again"... maybe as many as a million different times !, I think I well might ALWAYS choose a college around the size of Colby [which I think had maybe all of 1500 students, when I was there]... or maybe I might choose something even a bit smaller, as I think [also excellent] Bates and Bowdoin colleges ["down the road apiece" from me] were.