Further, adult stem cells can be obtained without endangering the
life of the "donor". They are found in umbilical cord blood, the
placenta, bone marrow, and even fat cells!
Here are several telling quotes from one of the articles we used as
support of our series on Stem Cell Research (www.johnankerberg.org):
Should we use embryonic stem cells or adult stem
cells for future medical therapies? Embryonic stem cells are taken
from a developing embryo at the blastocyst stage, destroying the
embryo, a developing human life. Adult stem cells, on the other hand,
are found in all tissues of the growing human being and, according to
latest reports, also have the potential to transform themselves into
practically all other cell types, or revert to being stem cells with
greater reproductive capacity. Embryonic stem cells have not yet been
used for even one therapy, while adult stem cells have already been
successfully used in numerous patients, including for cardiac
infarction (death of some of the heart tissue)….
It is remarkable that in the debate—often carried on with little
competence—the potential of embryonic stem cells is exaggerated
in a one-sided way, while important moral questions and issues of
research strategy are passed over in silence. Generally, advocates of
research with embryonic stem cells use as their main argument that
such research will enable us to cure all of the diseases that are
incurable today—cancer, AIDS, Alzheimers, multiple sclerosis, and so
forth. Faced with such a prospect, it is supposed to be "acceptable"
to "overlook" a few moral problems.
On closer inspection, however, the much extolled vision of the
future turns out to be a case of completely empty promises: Given the
elementary state of research today, it is by no means yet foreseeable,
whether even one of the hoped-for treatments can be realized.
Basically, such promised cures are a deliberate deception, for behind
the mirage of a coming medical wonderland, promoted by interested
parties, completely other research objectives will be pursued that are
to be kept out of public discussion as much as possible….
There are also reports of successful treatments with adult stem
cells in cases of Crohn’s disease (a chronic infection of the gut),
thalassemia (a blood disease), and a rare skin disease. And–despite
the fact that basic research with adult stem cells is in its earliest
beginnings and is in no way being promoted with urgency–there have
been a growing number of reports lately of experiments with animals,
from which it emerges that adult stem cells can successfully transform
themselves into differentiated cells of organs of many kinds.
In contrast, reports of successful conversions of embryonic stem
cells are very infrequent and cautious. Thus, we find in Science
of Dec. 1, 2000 (Vol. 290, pp. 1672-1674): "In contrast, the human
embryonic stem cells and fetal germ cells that made headlines in
November 1998 because they can, in theory, develop into any cell type
have so far produced relatively modest results. Only a few papers and
meeting reports have emerged from the handful of labs that work with
human pluripotent cells…. The work suggests that it will not be simple
to produce the pure populations of certain cell types that would be
required for safe and reliable cell therapies…."
This is the restrained language used by established science to
describe a truly disastrous set of results.
