President
Reagan and Christopher Reed were two very popular Americans
who died this year after protracted illness with chronic
medical conditions that, many believe, could be cured with
stem cell technology. Many other health conditions like
diabetes mellitus, Parkinson’s disease and cancer
of blood cells are amenable to being cured by implanting
modified stem cells into affected patients to restore functions
of defective or failed body organs. Improved understanding
of sub-cellular biology and interactions between living
cells and many protein molecules that regulate and facilitate
routine body functions have radically altered the way we
think of the future of medicine. Instead of giving medications
to correct deficiency of insulin which causes diabetes mellitus,
for example, stem cells could be modified to make insulin
and then implanted into patients. This method offers a permanent
cure for diabetes while the best approach today is to manage
the problem for life with multiple daily injections of insulin
or doses of tablets to control blood sugar level.
Christopher Reed, whose role as "Superman" in
one of Hollywood blockbuster movies made a household name,
accidentally broke his neck and severed his spinal cord
in 1995 during an equestrian sporting event. He lived the
past 9 years without normal feeling and ability to use all
his limbs or control his body excretions which many of us
take for granted. Preliminary results from stem cell research
show that spinal cord injury, similar to the one sustained
by Mr. Reed, can be repaired and thus cured with modified
stem cell implant to regenerate the damaged segment. He
spent the rest of his life crusading for advancement of
stem cell research with the hope of helping himself and
countless others to obtain cure for their disabling illnesses.
Former US President, Ronald Reagan and the legendary heavyweight
boxing champion, Mohammed Ali, were both diagnosed with
chronic brain degenerative conditions that can be cured
through application of stem cell technology. Hopes of many,
who anticipate to benefit from this new technology, shall
be dashed if stem cell research is not speeded up to help
them before it is too late.
But the Bush administration has implemented policies that
impede progress in stem cell technology by denying federal
funds for almost all research programs that include work
on embryonic stem cells. By tightly regulating embryonic
stem cell research, the Bush administration is imposing
a blockade on widespread and concerted effort needed to
unravel the many benefits of this new promising technology.
Human embryos, which are currently unutilized by many infertility
clinics, are frozen and stored for decades before being
discarded. With proper consent from their owners, these
surplus embryos could be used to generate many stem cell
lines that can be used to seek cures or relief for many
chronic diseases that afflict us today. The Bush policy,
which is informed by conservative viewpoint, which regards
frozen embryos as living beings, is designed solely to pander
to the sentiments of the President's political base that
is dead against abortion. Deploying frozen embryonic cells
for stem cell research has been couched by the President’s
campaign spinners as murder of living humans, an act which
ought not to be promoted with federal government funds.
Mr. Bush has personally called the use of embryonic stem
cells for medical research as an ethical dilemma since it
involves destroying one type of life to save the other.
To the President and his core political supporters, a clump
of embryonic cells that were created and grown in a laboratory
dish has the same human rights as the average citizen. This
absurd viewpoint makes little sense except for the fact
that it plays into the hands of the so-called “pro-lifers”
who also interpret use of embryonic stem cells as a form
of abortion to which they are opposed politically. A Commander-in-Chief,
who had no second thoughts about ordering his troops to
storm into Iraq against wiser counsel by notable world leaders,
wishes to tell the American electorate that he is too caring
and sensitive a man not to spill a laboratory petridish
containing human embryonic stem cells. The hypocrisy in
this stance is quite easy to see.
Mr. Reed’s death, only 3 weeks before the November
presidential election, has brought the emotive subject of
embryonic stem cell research back into the center stage
of the ongoing electioneering campaign. The Democratic Party
presidential candidate, Senator John Kerry, has pledged
to terminate the denial of federal funds for stem embryonic
cell research if elected to the White House. Opinion polls
indicate that the electorate favors reversal of current
policies on stem cell research by a margin of 2:1. It is
not only that the science and medical professions disdain
President Bush’s policy against stem cell research,
but also the average citizen has come to understand that
impeding research in this field, just to placate the extreme
right wing of the Republican party, is the wrong way to
go. Despite the fact that President Bush refuses to acknowledge
any mistakes
since his past 4 years in the White House, many Americans
regard his policy on stem cell research as a wrong decision
for someone who ought to lead in seeking effective and affordable
health care for those who need it most. Many are beginning
to wonder how Mr. Bush, who is seeking another term in office,
can reverse his slipping popularity with the voters if he
is perceived as being wrong on the Iraq war, economy, national
security and also on stem cell research.
