quotations about stem cell research
It is easy to fall into the trap of viewing legislation as just words on a piece of paper. But for the many people who are ill with multiple sclerosis and other diseases that stem cell therapy has the hope of solving in our lifetime, I look at this bill, I look at the possibility of what can happen in the 21st Century, with Texas taking the lead on adult stem cell treatments and this bill has the potential to extend lives and make a difference for these patients.
PAUL BETTENCOURT
"Governor Signs Law to Allow Chronic, Terminally Ill in Texas to Get Stem Cell Treatments", Spectrum News, June 14, 2017
Ethical judgments about the use of embryonic stem cells in research and therapies flow from the status accorded to the embryo. Those who feel that an embryo is a human being, or should be treated as one because it has the potential to become a person, contend that it is unethical to do anything to an embryo that could not be done to a person. At the opposite end of the spectrum, some people have expressed the view that the embryo is nothing more than a ball of cells that can be treated in a manner similar to tissues used in transplantation.
STEVE USDIN
introduction, Human Embryonic Stem Cells
Three women suffered severe, permanent eye damage after stem cells were injected into their eyes, in an unproven treatment at a loosely regulated clinic in Florida, doctors reported in an article published Wednesday in The New England Journal of Medicine. One, 72, went completely blind from the injections, and the others, 78 and 88, lost much of their eyesight. Before the procedure, all had some visual impairment but could see well enough to drive.
DENISE GRADY
"Patients Lose Sight After Stem Cells Are Injected Into Their Eyes", New York Times, March 15, 2017
Stem cells are such a taboo topic because they are widely misunderstood. Many people still think that the only way to obtain them is from fetuses. This, my friends, is not the case. Stem cells are frequently harvested from blood, bone marrow, or even the patient's adipose tissue. When Umbilical cords are utilized as a source they are attached to healthy and very much ALIVE children.
STAFF WRITER
"#3 Ways to Be Healthy That You Won't Hear from The Media", Entrepreneur, June 13, 2017