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Monday, March 9, 2009

Stem Cell Research, No Unity

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The President is not the man bringing everyone together that he claims to be. For years there has been a debate over whether or not it is ethical for research to be done on embryonic stem cells. This would mean that you have to have a supply of human embryos. Many people think that is the same as killing children and it is wrong while most scientists think that it is just a few cells and there is nothing human about it. There must be some way to compromise.

Well, it turns out there is and that Mr. Obama decided not to take the route of compromise and lifted the ban on embryonic stem cell research.

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If it is possible to make stem cells from skin cells, as it apparently is, why would you not compromise and perfect this method? Scientists and people that are ill get the stem cell research they want and people that think embryonic research is unethical no longer have to worry. I guess you aren't the President trying to bring everyone together; just the same as the rest. Mr. Obama, you are doing this just to try and force religious people, that is what most opponents to this are, to start using science. Science found another way to do the same research and yet you still find the need to stick it in their face. That is not freedom.

If you notice I did not state my own opinion on this in here and I don't have to choose sides now that there is a different way to make them. I don't know whether or not it is ethical but there is no reason to lift the ban when there is another way to make everyone happy.

11 comments:

  1. Actually in this case the issue is a no-brainer. All he signed into law was the use of the 250,000 embryos the government already has in stockpile that would otherwise go to waste and die anyway. He campaigned on this and it was even mentioned in one of the debates during the Democratic Primary where he promised he would reverse the Bush ruling. It's probably one of the easiest decisions he could make. If the embryos are going to die anyway, why not just use them for research? While I see your point on the alternatives, it should be noted that scientists concede that there are limitations to using skin cells OR at least it would take longer and more research to figure out how to solve the issue.

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  2. Actually, what Bush had in place allowed the continued use of lines already in use, did you actually read the article? I wonder.

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  3. "Obama overturned an order signed by President Bush in 2001 that barred the National Institutes of Health from funding research on embryonic stem cells beyond using 60 cell lines that existed at that time."

    If you notice it says "beyond using 60 cell lines that existed at that time" meaning that they were allowed to use the ones they had. You are wrong.

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  4. No, I read the article and I understand that 250,000 is more than 60. If I find that article I'll send it. We have a stock pile of embryos sitting in our labs that don't serve any purpose accept for research. We can argue all day long about how they got there in the first place but they are there now. 60 is nothing?

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  5. I only read 21 stem cell lines.. which is nothing.

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  6. Allen, 250,000 is not cell lines, a cell line consists of more than one cell it is a whole genetic line of cells. Wow.

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  7. There are a lot more than ONE embryo in a cell line, you said 250,000 embryos. Trust me, we do not have 250,000 cell lines in use or there would be no need to allow more.

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  8. The 250,000 and the 60 have NOTHING to do with each other. There are a lot of embryos in a genetic cell line, and they were already allowed to use those. I posted three major news sites that aren't right wing that said exactly what I said: embryonic stem cell research is COMPLETELY allowed to expand.

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  9. That quote I posted here also says he "overturned an order signed by President Bush in 2001 that barred the National Institutes of Health from funding research on embryonic stem cells beyond using 60 cell lines" meaning that there was an order in place that allowed the 60 cell lines to be used and no more and that it is overturned now so research can be additionally funded by the NIH.

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  10. There is a lot of dispute over the amount of cell lines there actually is. 60 is an overestimate. The U.S. National Institutes of Health currently lists only 21 lines that are available for distribution to researchers (wikipedia). I forgot to mention that most of those were contaminated anyway (out of the 21). And you're right in saying Stem cell lines are different than Embryo's but the point i was trying to make is you can get a lot more stem cell lines from 250,000 embryos. Bottom line is.. they are there already so why not just use them if there going to die anyway. That's all he signed?

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  11. I see what you are talking about now it seems we have confused terms. But, that said, those 250,000 embryos could have been used for artificial insemination in women that cannot get pregnant and we could have used skin cells. The process is at a productive level. He says he is taking the politics out of science and if that was so then he would use science and use the skin cell method. Apparently he isn't using science.

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