Joe Pitts, July 30, 2004

Despite claims made at the Democratic National Convention, there is no ban on stem cell research. In fact it is perfectly legal.

In 2001, President Bush became the first President to allow federal funding to be used on embryonic stem cell research. While I disagreed with his decision (I don’t think any taxpayer money should be used to destroy nascent human life), today, thousands of these stem cells are available to researchers and millions in federal money is spent on stem cell research.

However, the issue is much more complicated than sound bytes offered at a political convention.

Not long ago, a scientist named James Thompson discovered that all human cells were formed from something called "stem cells," and that if those stem cells could be isolated, virtually any kind of human tissue could be formed in a laboratory. Stem cells may be derived from two sources: from adult tissue, or from human embryos.

Taking stem cells from a human embryo is impossible without killing it. Adult cells (including umbilical and placental cells) may be taken from a person without harming him or her in any way. The moral dilemma is obvious. Is it ethical to kill a human embryo, even if it might help us find a cure for Alzheimer’s or Parkinson’s? Is it right to take one life to possibly help another? What if that research showed no hope of making progress towards cures of these diseases?

Since both Presidential candidates are on record as saying that "life begins at conception," it is important that we ask when it’s appropriate to end the life. No one wants to stand by as diseases take our friends and family from us. But no one wants to create human life just to destroy it, especially if the promise of that research may never come to fruition.

The good news is we may not have to. Currently, adult stem cells are used to treat forty-five diseases; embryonic stem cells are not used to treat any. Scientists have isolated muscle stem cells that can improve muscle regeneration in damaged muscles in a mouse with muscular dystrophy. Scientists at the University of Florida were successful in isolating insulin producing cells from adult bone marrow stem cells. These cells secreted insulin in a controlled manner and reversed diabetes in mice. Bone marrow stem cells, when exposed to damaged liver tissue, can quickly convert into healthy liver cells and help repair the damaged organ, according to research done at Johns Hopkins. And bone marrow stem cells implanted in the heart have shown positive results in repairing damage done to the heart during a heart attack.

The list goes on and on. Adult stem cell research offers cures without controversy. Just ask Laura Dominguez and Sara Rudolph.

An accident on July 3, 2001 left eighteen-year-old Laura with no movement in her legs or hips and no feeling below her collarbone. She went to hospitals and doctors. They could offer no cure, but they helped her live with her disabilities.

Several years later a doctor in Michigan proposed that Laura visit Dr. Carlos Lima in Portugal to undergo olfactory mucosa surgery. The procedure involves the removal of tissue from the olfactory sinus area, transplanting it into the spinal cord at the injury site. The result? After her surgery, Laura regained some sensation and motor control of certain muscles. She is now able to point her toes. With braces, she can walk some distance. She continues to progress.

In July 1998, then fifteen-year-old Sara Rudolph received nine days of chemotherapy in preparation for the bone marrow transplant to treat acute myelogenous leukemia, a cancer of the blood. On July 23, her brother’s donated stem cells were injected into Sara intravenously, engrafted in her bones and, fifteen days later, normal white blood cells began to reappear in Sara’s blood. By January 1999, Sara had become a "cancer survivor."

If you still don’t buy it, just follow the money. Embryonic stem cell lines developed in a laboratory can be patented and sold to the highest bidder. Despite this potential for huge profits, our world-class, multi-billion dollar biotechnology industry in America spends relatively little on embryonic stem cell research. Instead, advocates hope to get the American taxpayer to shoulder the risk of investing in research without promise, on the off chance that corporations may profit from the patenting and selling of embryonic stem cell lines. It’s a win-win for companies, but a lose-lose for taxpayers and for human life.

We can do better. And, fortunately, we already are. Adult stem cells are offering cures without controversy, not vain hope in false promises.

Congressman Joe Pitts, a Republican, represents Pennsylvania's 16th Congressional District, which includes Lancaster County and parts of Chester County and Berks County.