Recent scientific breakthroughs that have been described as “the biological equivalent of the Wright brothers’ first airplane ride” have demonstrated that human skin cells can be converted into the highly valued embryonic state where they theoretically have the potential to develop into any cell, tissue or organ that will treat almost any disease.
Taking fully developed cells back to an immature state may seem like a step backwards. But, once in that state, the addition of nutrients, growth factors and hormones can direct the cells to develop into new heart, nerve, muscle or any kind of cell required to replace or regenerate damaged cells and diseased cells in the body. The technique is called therapeutic cloning.
In November, researchers from the U.S. and Japan reported they had tricked cultured adult cells (grown in the lab) to convert to embryonic cells.
Then, in December, another U.S. group accomplished the same thing, using scrapings of skin cells from adult volunteers.
In other words, a working technique now exists to take a swab of cells from injured or diseased individuals, and then convert them into genetically identical cells that are needed to fix the problem.
The concept is remarkable. The technique is practical, simple and cheap. Most importantly, the implications are enormous, as it now renders moot the controversies that have prevented this research from reaching its full potential.
For years, scientists, politicians and financial investors have squabbled about how to best capture this potential— and the dividing line has focused on ethics.
One group has supported the use of embryonic stem cells, obtained from human embryos created for that purpose or by destroying large numbers of embryos that are headed for the discard pile at infertility clinics.
Consequently, the research is highly controversial and any progress (or resultant cure) is laden with ethical and moral questions.
A second group skirted the issue by converting readily available adult cells (mostly from blood or bone marrow) into cells needed to treat disease.
The successes of this latter group have far outstripped those of the former, but news of scientific gains was often lost amid the overbearing voices of those who have no qualms about taking a human life to save a human life, and who believe research should be viewed from a strictly utilitarian perspective.
This debate has been driven not by science, but by the power of celebrity.
Michael J. Fox, Christopher Reeve and Mary Tyler Moore have all made heart-rending pleas in support of embryonic stem cell research as a panacea for Parkinson’s, spinal cord injuries and diabetes, respectively.
Ronald Reagan’s wife, Nancy, also took up the call in the wake of his death from Alzheimer’s. All of this produced much public sympathy, but it also created the mistaken impression that all hope lay with embryonic cell research.
President George W. Bush was accused of withholding government money for embryonic stem cell research when, in fact, embryonic research had billions of government and private money at its disposal.
In 2001, Bush directed the majority of federal money toward adult stem cell research and, as unpopular as this may sound, he was right.
Bush backed the right science and made a courageous stand for morality and ethics in medicine.
In contrast, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger may have some explaining to do.
He successfully encouraged voters to support his 2004 proposal for California to borrow$3 billion over 10 years to invest in embryonic stem cell research.
New Jersey voters just rejected a similar proposal (on a far smaller level), even though their governor had promised investment returns of 16,000 per cent. Embryonic stem cell research isn’t over. But it will be difficult to justify the wholesale creation, and destruction, of human embryos and the expense that is required to obtain the very same cells that are now readily available by running a cotton swab over the inside of a cheek.
The principle behind Ockham’s razor stands: The simplest solution is the best.
Scottish professor Ian Wilmut, known as a leader in human cloning research and the infamous creator of Dolly (the first cloned sheep), says reprogramming “represents the future for stem cell research” and has abandoned his work utilizing other techniques.
In this case, it is a bonus that the simplest and best solution also preserves our moral obligations to upholding human dignity and life. Our society and our own humanity would surely suffer if we were to abandon those obligations just so we could live our modern lives with less pain and sorrow.
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