by Erik Setser

Created on: May 27, 2009

Stem cell research, and the use thereof as a medical treatment, is not so new an advent as it is often portrayed. The abundance of stem cells in bone marrow is the reason it's used in transplants to treat such diseases as cancer and leukemia. The moral dilemma - which I have found stems from a limited understanding - comes from the more recent advent of using umbilical cord blood. From this comes the question of whether funding for cord blood stem cell research should come from the federal government.

For a time, it was widely misconceived that fetal stem cells or cord blood stem cells came largely from abortion clinics. The mother-to-not-be could give something back by donating the remains of the lifeless fetus to be researched towards developing new medical treatments. This rather macabre depiction of stem cell research gave rise to the belief that it would lead to the parents of irreparably unhealthy fetuses being encouraged to sacrifice their child to provide medical treatment for a handful of others.

While stem cells can come from aborted fetuses, the more common practice is not the least bit grim and is more of a pay-it-forward than a personal redemption. The blood in the umbilical cord is rich with stem cells, hence the name cord blood stem cells. In actuality, the largest quantities of fetal stem cells used in research and medicine come from umbilical cords donated from healthily born babies.

Dozens of diseases have been found treatable by cord blood stem cells. These include the aforementioned malignancies, such as various strains of leukemia, myelodisplastic syndrome (MDS), and solid tumors such as neuroblastoma and non-hodkin's lymphoma. It may also treat hemoglobinopathies, or blood disorders, such as sickle cell anemia, thalassemia and congenital cytopenia. Stem cells can also be used in treatments for metabolic diseases including bare-lymphocyte syndrome, hunter syndrome, and genetic osteopetrosis. They can even be used against immunodeficiencies such as wiskott-aldrich syndrome and adenosine deaminase deficiency (ADA). In fact, well over 100 diseases, disorders and deficiencies have successfully been treated with cord blood stem cells, and research is both ongoing and progressive.

Therefore, the reasons the federal government should fund the research are two-fold.

Foremost, the role of government is not to rule but to lead and guide. Our tax dollars should be viewed as a way to provide for us, fortifying our lives and our nation, rather

• 1
• 2
• Next Page >>