Proponents Plead for Stem Cell Research
W A S H I N G T O N, Sep. 14 -- Jennifer Estess is running out of time. Estess is dying from a disease called Amyotropic Lateral Sclerosis, better known as Lou Gehrig’s disease.
Speaking in front of a Senate subcommittee hearing, bound to a wheelchair and forced to use a respirator to breathe, Estess, 38, today urged the Senate to pass the Stem Cell Research Act of 2000.
Flanked by fellow actors Mary Tyler-Moore, Gina Gershon and Michael J. Fox, she expressed the urgency of the situation and the importance of stem cell research to her and so many others who are dying every day from ALS, a degenerative disease.
Stem cell research is one of the most contentious issues the Senate has tackled this year, confronting the moral and ethical implications of research on the cells, which are taken from human embryos.
Stem cells are the master cells that in very early embryos generate all the other tissues of the body. The act would enable federally-funded researchers to derive their own stem cells from embryos that would otherwise be discarded and are donated by in-vitro fertilization clinics.
“The discovery of human pluripotent stem cells, the most basic building blocks of the human body, is a major scientific breakthrough, the full value of which cannot be overstated”, says Nobel Laureate Paul Berg, Ph.D of the American Society of Cell Biology.
Potential CuresBut the federal government has not funded research intoembryonic stem cells because of a congressional ban on any researchthat destroys human embryos, which taking stem cells does.
Proponents of the research stress its importance, saying stem cells could be used to create new, healthy tissue to replace dead or damaged tissue. The research could result in new treatments or cures for many of the most debilitating diseases such as ALS, Alzheimer’s, heart disease, cancer and diabetes.
Just Wednesday, the National Institutes of Health reported a potential cure for kidney cancer involving stem cells donated from siblings.
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