.- Advances
in adult and umbilical cord-blood stem-cell research have surpassed
embryonic stem-cell research, but media hype and several misconceptions
continue to fuel support for government subsidized embryonic stem-cell
research, said United States Rep. Christopher Smith on The Hill’s
Congress Blog yesterday.
In his May 10
blog entry, titled “The Truth About Stem Cells” Smith noted that
“nearly 70 human clinical applications using adult stem cells have been
published in peer-reviewed journals” and he gave three examples where
adult stem cells have been used successfully for organ reconstruction.
The Republican
legislator from New Jersey also addressed the misconceptions that the
U.S. is falling behind in the competitive field of scientific research
and development or losing scientists because of the current embryonic
stem-cell policy.
This claim “is
simply unsubstantiated,” he said. “There is no statistical evidence
that scientists are leaving the country due to the current policy.”
He noted that
developments in the field of embryonic stem cells are disappointing,
often resulting in failure. These cells have also shown a tendency to
form tumors, he wrote.
“These failures
of embryonic stem-cell research are magnified by the fact that the
process itself destroys human lives at their most vulnerable beginning
stage,” he said.
He also
addressed the misinformed notion that human embryos left over from the
process of in vitro fertilization might as well be used for research
because they “are just going to be destroyed anyway and poured down the
drain.”
Smith points out that, in fact, some of these embryos are not thrown out but adopted by other couples.
He reported that President George Bush welcomed “snowflake families” to the White House last year.
“These families
adopted embryos stored in frozen orphanages left from other couples’
attempts to conceive through in vitro fertilization,” Smith wrote.
“They have since seen their adopted embryos grow into happy, healthy
children. These children are living examples of why not one taxpayer
dollar should be used for the destruction of human embryos.
“Once the
government not only permits but funds the destruction of human life in
the name of science, all life is devalued and the culture of death
becomes even more pervasive,” he concluded.
Federal legislator blogs ‘truth about stem cells’
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