| | |
By Valerie Schmalz
The potential of embryonic stem cells, especially their capacity to subdivide
and create all the organs that make up a human being, enthralls many scientists.
However, the 100-150 cells from "left-over" embryos created
via in-vitro fertilization have not, so far, lived up to scientists’
expectations. The technology of using embryonic stem cells has yet to
produce a cure.
One of the biggest problems is that the little test-tube babies have their
own unique DNA and the human body is programmed to reject foreign matter.
And so recipients of transplanted organs spend a lifetime on anti-rejection
drugs and the same issues apply to treatments devised with embryonic stem
cells.
In addition to organ rejection, there are other problems, among them:
mice injected with embryonic stem cells to cure one disorder have developed
tumors in other parts of the body and died.
"For over twenty years they have been working with embryonic stem
cells. No patient has been treated with them because they can’t get
them to work," says David Prentice, Ph.D., science advisor to Sen.
Sam Brownback, R-Kansas, the prime sponsor of a bill to ban human cloning
nationally. Prentice is also science advisor for the Family Research Council
and former biochemistry professor at Indiana State University.
"At the same time we have thousands of live patients successfully
treated with adult stem cells," says Prentice. "It’s like
night and day when you look at the actual results."
Some successful treatments using these flexible adult stem cells include
partially regenerating spinal cord damage, rebuilding corneas to restore
sight, and alleviating the symptoms of Parkinson’s disease and diabetes.
Other diseases whose symptoms have been successfully treated with adult
stem cell therapies include multiple sclerosis, lupus, Crohn's disease,
heart disease, leukemia, non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, aplastic anemia, and
sickle cell anemia, according to this
article on the Family Research Council website.
But the promise of embryonic stem cells beckons to many scientists. They
believe if they can successfully clone an embryo using the cells and thus
the DNA of the person needing treatment, they can circumvent the body’s
rejection mechanism. With cloning, the scientists would take the DNA material
from the person to whom the "cure" was to be directed and implant
it into an "emptied" egg or ovum and then build an embryo from
it.
Cells from cloned embryos–broken apart to retrieve the cells–could
theoretically be used to build new organs, create cures to auto-immune
diseases such as diabetes and arthritis, and to regenerate new nerve systems
to repair damaged spinal cords.
"When you listen to these stories think about how many times you
hear 'potential'," says Prentice. Researchers are also running into
rejection problems with cloned mice because there are many technical issues
with the injection of one person’s DNA into the "emptied"
egg taken from a woman, he says.
Most important–cloning for cures, even if there are any–still
means killing.
"A lot of people want to keep away from the 'C' word, so they use
the term ‘somatic cell nuclear transfer to obtain stem cells’,"
says Prentice. "They are playing with words to kind of sanitize it--so
people don’t know you made an embryo to destroy and you are actually
doing cloning."
Read "Cloning Conflict" |
"How Cloning Works"
Valerie Schmalz is a writer for IgnatiusInsight.
She worked as a reporter and editor for The Associated Press, and in print
and broadcast media for ten years. She holds a BA in Government from University
of San Francisco and a Master of Science from the School of Foreign Service
at Georgetown University. She is the former director of Birthright of San
Francisco. Valerie and her wonderful husband have four children.
If you'd like to receive the FREE IgnatiusInsight.com e-letter (about
every 2 to 3 weeks), which includes regular updates about IgnatiusInsight.com
articles, reviews, excerpts, and author appearances,
please click here to sign-up today!
| | |
|
|
|
G.K. Chesterton (1874-1936) was one of the finest Christian authors and apologists
of the past two hundred years. Raised as an agnostic, he embraced Christianity as a young man, ultimately entering the Catholic Church
in 1922. He wrote hundreds of essays, as well as novels, short stories, poetry, apologetics, literary
criticism, and nearly everything else imaginable. Dale Ahlquist, president and co-founder of the American
Chesterton Society and author of
G.K Chesterton: Apostle of Common Sense, writes, "Chesterton was equally at ease with literary and social criticism,
history, politics, economics, philosophy, and theology. His style is unmistakable, always marked
by humility, consistency, paradox, wit, and wonder. His writing remains as timely and as timeless
today as when it first appeared, even though much of it was published in throw away paper." Read more
about the life and work of this remarkable thinker, author, and apologist.
|
Nothing To Hide: Secrecy, Communication and Communion in the Catholic Church
by Russell Shaw
Shaw, the former communications director for the U.S. Bishops, discusses the abuse of secrecy in the Church, the scandals it has caused and the serious
problem of mistrust that exists in the credibility of the Church. He is not concerned with the legitimate secrecy that is necessary to protect confidentiality and people's reputations, but
with the stifling, deadening misuse of secrecy that has done immense harm to communion and community in the Church in America. Shaw raises such questions as: What kind of Church do we want our Church to be, open or closed? What kind of Church should it be? And how much secrecy is compatible with having
such a Church? As Pope Benedict XVI has stated, "The consequence is clear: we cannot communicate with the Lord if we do not communicate with one another." The Church is a communion, not a political
democracy, and thus openness and accountability are even more crucial for the life of the Church than they are in a democracy. In a talk he gave many years before he became the current Pope,
Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger had this to say about the reality of ecclesial communion: "Fellowship in the Body of Christ and receiving the Body of Christ means fellowship with one another. This
of its very nature includes mutual acceptance, giving and receiving on both sides, and readiness to share one's goods ... In this sense, the social question is given quite a central place
in the theological heart of the concept of communion." This is a beautiful vision of the Church. Shaw's aim in his book is to make a contribution to realizing this vision in the concrete circumstances
of the present day, by helping to end the culture of secrecy, especially within American Catholicism, and replacing the destructive culture with an open, accountable community of faith.
Read more about Nothing to Hide.
|
|
| |
