Schoolgirl Fights for Stem Cell Research

Aug. 14, 2004 -- Hollywood producers Doug Wick and Lucy Fisher feel like they're running a race against time for the life of their youngest daughter.

Tessa Wick, 13, was diagnosed with juvenile diabetes, a life-threatening disease, in 1999, when she was just 8 years old.

"We feel like we're on a timer," Fisher told ABC News, "because diabetes complications don't usually start for five years and Tessa is past her five-year mark this year."

Family friend Patti Davis, daughter of the late President Ronald Reagan, interviewed the family in a Primetime "My Take" feature.

Feisty Crusader

More than 1 million people in America have juvenile or type 1 diabetes, a condition that occurs when the pancreas stops producing insulin, a hormone which regulates blood sugar levels.

If Tessa's blood sugar levels fall too low, she could go into a coma. And if they rise too high too often, it could wreak havoc on her organs, leading to blindness, kidney failure, heart disease or amputation.

There is no cure for juvenile diabetes, but many scientists believe that there could one day be a solution in a controversial area of medicine involving stem cells derived from human embryos.

Embryonic stems cells form soon after conception. Because they divide and become all the different cells in the human body, the hope is that they could be turned into almost any type of tissue in the body.