NEJM — Missed Opportunities in Embryonic Stem-Cell Research

Posted in October 12th, 2004

Interesting….. as usual the medical world crys to Uncle Sam to fund everything. Hmmm, it seems to me if there were a decent chance of success, the VC world would jump on it. Remember the big debate is not on stem cell research, it is the public funding of embryonic stem cell research. If there were zero chance of public funding, I’m sure the VC world would take a chance. Otoh, I can’t blame them for not, as the issue is still in flux politically, and if govt changed its stance, it would be a money loosing proposition.

My personal belief is embryonic stem cell research and cloning of embryos should be welcomed with open arms. yet for some odd reason, folks get bent out of shape when cloning is mentioned, or killing of cellular material for research. Or imho, a great idea is pharmacological and product testing on such cell lines. I think an aborted baby is a lot better for researching cellular side effects than a live animal. At least we are talking human cells.

My stance is that as long as abortion is legal, widespread experimentation on the remains should proceed at the most rapid pace possible. The baby was already killed during the abortion… recovering the collateral remains may well be the only contribution the once vibrant young life can provide.

It may give some level of upset to those who favor baby killing to know their DNA will be cloned in the name of science. Or that perhaps some mutant strains may be created as part of their offspring. Otoh, they chose to have the abortion. It is about choice. I say once the choice is made, the rights of the dead baby are gone as well as the mothers concerning her dead child. Let us proceed forward to create something potentially positive rather than just death to a helpless baby. Sure, mistakes will happen, DNA will get hosed up, and it does appear that cancer is rampant in derivative of embryonic cell lines. Then again, the supreme court has ruled its not really life…. so apprently the cancerous developments are not really alive either.

That being said, my ideal preference is that abortion would be no more. However, the supreme court has stated it is legal, and we must provide abortions at taxpayer expense, irrespective of our personal and religious beliefs. As such, the door should be opened wide to experimentation and development… or the door to baby killing should be closed as well as govt funded research on the collateral remains.