Stem Cell Research

[smileyeagle1021]

Fertility clinics aren't exactly a good thing to promote either. All they are is a way to take money from greedy people too selfish to adopt.

umm, I'll have to call you on that one.
My mother used fertility treatments (granted, never used full blown invitro etc), not because she was selfish, but because she had the ideal that she must try to do everything in her power to bring at least one life into the world... and if she was unable to do that then it may be a sign that she was not meant to be a parent. She and my father were more than willing to adopt the Duggar clan afterwards, but they needed that first child at least to be their own blood.
Yes, it is true that they didn't adopt after that... funny how someone dying will throw a monkey wrench into plans like that.
Also, another point to call, I could not adopt if I wanted to. It is not legal in Utah (and many other states). So, if I wished to raise a child (we'll leave the debate on whether or not that is proper to another thread), I would have no choice but to use a fertility clinic and a willing surrogate mother..
So, for the near future, there will be plenty of legitimate reasons for people to use fertility clinics beyond being selfish.

[Boozy]

We've got threads about adoption vs. fertility treatments already. I'd like to keep this one on track, since it's the first thread here on the subject of stem cell research.

Back on topic, please. Carry on.

[BlaqueKatt]

they just get the cells from umbilical cords and the like.

We're talking about taking what is going to be wasted anyways and using it in a responsible manner.

yup because hey guess what all moral dilemmas are done-stem cells are found in menstrual blood-yay!!!!

Tests showed that MenSCs* could differentiate into adipogenic, chondrogenic, osteogenic, ectodermal, mesodermal, cardiogenic, and neural cell lineages. According to Patel, the sample MenSCs expanded rapidly and maintained greater than 50 percent of their telomerase activity when compared to human embryonic stem cells and better than bone marrow-derived stem cells.

A mere 5ml of menstrual blood (5 ml is about 1 teaspoon-the average female loses about 4-12 teaspoons/cycle) collected from a healthy woman provided enough cells which after two weeks of culture provided beating heart cells.

Not only do ERC* replicate at a phenomenal rate of almost every 20 hours, but they produce unique growth factors at a rate of almost 100,000 greater than cells from umbilical cord blood


and hey menses are "natural" if someone's concerned that a woman might put off getting preggers to get more stem cells from menses well I guess they could always get it from unmarried virgins waiting for marriage or nuns.....the religious right would have no argument to that I should think.....



and just to show how behind some people are on this latest research(discovered 3 years ago)-there's already a company in business collecting and storing them it's called Célle


*MenSC and ERC are names given to the same cells-MenSC=Menstrual Stem Cells, ERC=Endometrial Regenerative Cells

[Nyoibo]

So at the same time my brain is going "Awesome" and "Eeeewwww"

[the_std]

BK, that's awesome, but how does it invalidate what we were saying? It's great that there are stem cells in menstrual blood, but how does that make it bad to take stem cells from umbilical cords and aborted fetuses?

[HYHYBT]

It's great that there are stem cells in menstrual blood, but how does that make it bad to take stem cells from umbilical cords and aborted fetuses?

It doesn't, but if they really can do the same things then it sidesteps the controversy nicely.

[Greenday]

It doesn't, but if they really can do the same things then it sidesteps the controversy nicely.

Something tells me they CAN'T do the same thing. Fetus cells are so much less unspecialized that they have a greater potential.

[BlaqueKatt]

Something tells me they CAN'T do the same thing. Fetus cells are so much less unspecialized that they have a greater potential.

Tests showed that MenSCs* could differentiate into adipogenic, chondrogenic, osteogenic, ectodermal, mesodermal, cardiogenic, and neural cell lineages. According to Patel, the sample MenSCs expanded rapidly and maintained greater than 50 percent of their telomerase activity when compared to human embryonic stem cells and better than bone marrow-derived stem cells

Read the articles-ERCs have Greater potential than fetus cells-where do you think the fetal cells come from? The uterine lining thickens every month to prepare for embryo implantation-to nourish and grow the fetus-the fetus takes 9 months to grow-uterine lining takes 21 days-give those timeframes which cells reproduce quicker?

9 months vs 21 days-the researchers working with ERCs are outside the US-mainly because of the whole "eeeew gross" factor-sorry More Americans are squicked out by normal bodily functions than people in more progressive countries(sorry with America being founded by Puritans and the "sex is bad" people-we suffer-if I don't stop now I'm going to end up on a rant about needing better comprehensive sex education in this country rather than the "wait til marriage" crap we have now, which is a perfect example of Americans being squicked out at the mere thought of a biological process)

[Fryk]

I'd be willing to bet that all this does is cause the anti-stem cell people to shift the focus of their arguments. For a lot of them, it's not only about the evil abortion doctors ripping babies out of mommy's tummy for experiments, it's about the fact that the evil scientists dare to challenge the natural Law of God, or that they're secretly trying to engineer a master race.

[smileyeagle1021]

or that they're secretly trying to engineer a master race.

if that master race includes an immunity to the flu I'm all for it

<- has had the flu on and off again for two weeks now... yes, I know, I need to go to the doctor, they are just so expensive.

[Greenday]

they're secretly trying to engineer a master race.

That's actually not too far off a possibility. Stem cells could easily lead to the cloning of human beings. So it's not a stretch to say we could clone a master race.

[Wingates_Hellsing]

That's actually not too far off a possibility. Stem cells could easily lead to the cloning of human beings. So it's not a stretch to say we could clone a master race.

Except for that whole wildly experimental and cost-ineffiecient quality such a program would entail. Not to say that it isn't possible, rather that it isn't in any way practical. I wouldn't really worry about someone trying it even if they did because they'd be hard pressed to succeed first in doing the cloning and more so actually accomplishing anything once they did.

[Greenday]

Except for that whole wildly experimental and cost-ineffiecient quality such a program would entail. Not to say that it isn't possible, rather that it isn't in any way practical. I wouldn't really worry about someone trying it even if they did because they'd be hard pressed to succeed first in doing the cloning and more so actually accomplishing anything once they did.

Do you think someone hellbent on world domination would REALLY care how much work it takes?

[Fryk]

if that master race includes an immunity to the flu I'm all for it

<- has had the flu on and off again for two weeks now... yes, I know, I need to go to the doctor, they are just so expensive.

Sorry, but even if they did breed super flu-immune god-men, it still wouldn't make YOU immune...unless...

Unless you're telling us....

OHMYGOD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! SMILEY IS A CLONE SOLDIER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! CALL THE GUARD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! IT'S A TRAP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Wingates_Hellsing]

Do you think someone hellbent on world domination would REALLY care how much work it takes?

Of course they don't, which is exactly why it would fail