At the 2007 annual meeting of The Metropolitan Association of College and University Biologists a keynote address was given that could lead to the current debate over the use of stem cells to become irrelevant.
For the past few years there has been a great deal of controversy surrounding the haveting of Embryonic stem cells to use them in research and the fight against certain diseases. Now it may be possible to create Stem Cells by reprogramming cells from any type of tissue.
Humans have about 200 different types of cells that comprise our bodies, Skin cells, nerve cells, blood cells etc. All of these cells become specialized due to a complex set of signals that they receive as part of the information contained in our DNA. Scientists are now able to decode these signals. Within the next few years, the complete set of signals for each cell type will be known.
So here is an example of how medicine might very well work in the near future...
A person is diagnosed with a degenerative disorder such as Parkinson's Disease or comes into the hospital with severe burns. Currently, Embryonic stem cells might be considered as part of the treatment protocol as a way to repair the damage. These stem cells, of course, have been harvested from abortions and therefore there is great ethical problems with their use. But there is another way...
A Burn victim needs a skin graft. An undamaged cell is taken from his or her body as part of a quick and painless cheek swab This cell is exposed to the signals that will cause it to revert to a basic undifferentiated cell. It is then exposed to the set of signals that are used to create skin cells. This newly minted skin cell is put into a petri dish with a nutrient bath. In a short while this cell will have divided over and over and a entire batch of skin cells is now ready to be grafted. Because these cells are derived from the victim's own body, there is no rejection.
No stem cells from aborted babies are needed. Instead, a simple re programing of any cell is involved. Although this may seem like science fiction, the work on its implementation is already well along.
As far as I can see there are no ethical concerns as no life will have been taken in ether the research or implementation of this type of treatment.
Topic: The stem Cell debate may be over (Read 635 times)