Stem Cell research...a new source?

[DoNotRefill]

OK, we know that Bush froze the supply of stem cell lines available for research a while back, because they were supposedly being taken from aborted fetuses.

Got a question for you. As you know from my .sig, we're expecting a little one soon. There's a bunch of companies out there offering to collect and cryogenically store stem cells taken from the blood in the umbilical cord of the baby when it's born, for around $2000 start-up cost, and then $95 a year storage fee. Why couldn't parents have this source of stem cells that is going to waste and SELL or DONATE them to medical researchers?

[wtmusic]

1. The upper cavity of the nose is also a good source

Stem cells have been harvested from people's own noses and placed on their damaged spinal cords, with dramatic results.

[ThatPoetGuy]

2. Stem cell research isn't from aborted foetuses

That's a different kind of research. No, stem cells are from extraneous fertilized ova; when an infertile couple sets out to fertilize an egg outside the uterus, the fertility doctors make 8 to 16 foetuses, and choose the most viable one to put in the woman's body.

There are foetuses left over from this process. Under law these are frozen indefinitely. It's why fertilization procedures are so expensive. It's BS.

The heart of it is this:

Abortion opponents invented an argument in order to justify their war on women. They do not want to see women gain control over their own bodies, because these groups have a vested interest in keeping women out of power. So these groups created this nonsensical "pro-life" platform, which is built entirely of lies, and in order to defend it they need to keep coming up with more lies. Anti-stem research is just the latest lie they've invented as a corollary of other lies.

If one accepts their nonsensical premise that "life begins at conception," then destroying a fertilized ovum is murder. So these zygotes are kept frozen indefinitely, because in some Republican sci-fi fantasy universe they might be someday brought to term. Who is to say that being frozen for all eternity is a better fate than being used for research?

Every day thousands of real babies are born dead, or crippled, or blind, or deformed, because scumbags like Bush have impeded the progress of stem cell research. The right wing cares more about imaginary children than real ones. Perhaps a better way to put it is: thousands of babies are born dead, or crippled, or blind, or deformed, because the right wing would rather see all that suffering than stop it, because stopping it would be an admission that their aim isn't to defend foetuses but to keep women from gaining equality.

[DoNotRefill]

3. But that's the beauty of what I'm suggesting.

the umbilical cord stem cells cannot POSSIBLY be said to harm a Z/E/F in ANY way, since hey, they're harvested out of the "leftovers" of the birthing process, after the baby has been born. Currently, in most cases, it's just being thrown away as waste.

If we can find a way to be able to continue stem cell research in a way that doesn't freak the fundies out, that's a "win-win" situation. They can't say "it hurts the unborn", and the research still gets done. The only cost is extracting the stem cells from the waste.

[JPJones]

4. There are many, many different kinds of stem cells

Cord blood stem cells are different from embryonic stem cells. The stem cells in cord blood are blood stem cells. They are useful if you need a bone marrow transplant, but may or may not be useful for other applications. The same stem cells are in your bone marrow right now, but in lower concentrations.

There's really no replacement for embryonic stem cells.

[DoNotRefill]

5. half a loaf...

is better than no loaf, though...

It would seem that there'd HAVE to be some research value to umbilical stem cells....

[JPJones]

6. Here's an organization that accepts donations

http://www.marrow.org/MEDICAL/cord_blood_donation_basic.html

From a research point of view, the problem isn't a lack of cord blood (that's easy to get), but that we'd rather spend money researching better ways to kill people, instead of better ways to keep people healthy.