Stem cell campaigner speaks out

Jim W. — Thu, 10 Jan 2008 23:32:07 GMT

This is old news reworded to meet the guidelines of the Administration and the Religeous Right in order to get federal funding .
The only true hESC research being conducted presently makes use of embryonic cells that would otherwise be flushed down the toilet .
Use the IVF clinic cells and allow the research to go forward unhindered by religeous beliefs .

Stem cell campaigner speaks out

susan annapolis md — Fri, 11 Jan 2008 00:28:19 GMT

wow!
Being an insulin-dependent diabetic for well over 20 years now, I find I've been angry at this government and all that have opposed stem-cell research for what seems like forever.
This news is mind-boggling to me!
Elated is way too soft of a word to describe my excitement!
Hey! NED 5! Yoo-hoo! I'm over here! I need islet cells! Please?
Thank you, Mr. Lanza. Thank you from the bottom of my heart, er, pancreas. You have given me hope again!

Stem cell campaigner speaks out

John Gualt, San Ramon, California — Fri, 11 Jan 2008 00:31:52 GMT

This is some amazing science. The idea of being able to treat a host of different ailmrnts that currently are uncurable should give hope to millions. Keep up the science and while your at it do you think you could come up with a cure for ignorance. Just a thought.

Stem cell campaigner speaks out

Anthony Paul, Denver,Co. — Fri, 11 Jan 2008 01:39:57 GMT

Say, you can get stem cells from other means as well, For instance, from the dental pulp in baby teeth. So why does everyone make it so political and talk only about embryo cells??

Stem cell campaigner speaks out

Robert Smith — Fri, 11 Jan 2008 07:36:38 GMT

Geron , using a device the size of a desk, can supply all the cells needed to treat all spinal cord injuries in the U.S. Their cells are also immune priveleged, so NO powerful and harmful immune suppressant drugs are required. Hats off to Lanza for trying to find a logical way out of this false-ethical delema, but the church does not want a way out of it. They have fought every major new medical advance for hundreds of years, surgery, blood transfusion, autopsy for learning about the body, you name it. You see, they want to keep mankind in fear of an EARLY death. Its good for membership and contributions. This is why you don't want the government leaders and church in bed together. God helps us all till they are pulled apart.

Stem cell campaigner speaks out

Patrick, USA — Fri, 11 Jan 2008 10:44:48 GMT

Old news. Lanza has made these type of claims in the past. He has yet to prove much of what he says.

Stem cell campaigner speaks out

clifford wright syracuse new york — Fri, 11 Jan 2008 15:45:24 GMT

great news. keep the emybros happy, healthy and wise for we are here for a short time but the soul is forever. find a way to ivf without killing the other embryos and lets hatch them all for an adoption clinic sponsored by the state. its impossible to get a baby these days

Stem cell campaigner speaks out

Greg H — Fri, 11 Jan 2008 17:38:20 GMT

In response to Jim W. Are we talking religion or the sanctity of human life? You imply that one must be religious to be moral. We are talking about viable human beings. It could have been you, me, or anyone reading this. We cannot treat human beings as lab rats. These embryos are every bit as human as you are. A society may be judged by how it treats its weakest members, these are they.

Stem cell campaigner speaks out

Bryce S, Teaneck NJ — Fri, 11 Jan 2008 18:29:04 GMT

Jim W. writes "Use the IVF clinic cells and allow the research to go forward unhindered by religeous beliefs." He is echoing Lanza, who said, "You can’t say that these stem cell lines violate federal law without any facts, and they should not be denied federal funding because of religious opposition."

How about moral opposition? Why do people jump to the conclusion that one's moral opposition stems from a religious principle? True, it usually does, but it's not always. I think they word it this way because it is easier to dismiss a "religious" opposition than a "moral" opposition.

Stem cell campaigner speaks out

TheFallibleFiend, LORTON, VA — Fri, 11 Jan 2008 18:48:45 GMT

It is not clear that human embryos are "every bit as human" unless one examines the issue from a religious, spark-of-life, all-or-nothing perspective. An alternative view from another group is that an embryo is either "just a clump of cells" or is a "parasite."

These views aren't less moral; they yield different morals because their assumptions are different. But the religious view morality as absolute. Some of their detractors do as well.

There is no scientific evidence to suggest that such a thing as a "soul" exists in any sense other than metaphorical. There is no reason to think that "human being" has to be defined in the same terms from ethical, religious, and scientific perspectives.

Stem cell campaigner speaks out

KEVIN MILLER — Fri, 11 Jan 2008 19:35:03 GMT

DEAR SIR OR MADAME,

STOP CONNING AMERICAN CITIZENS. THE FUTURE IS ADULT [SOMATIC] STEM CELL THERAPY. YOU MUST BE ON THE TAKE OR A FRONT MAN FOR BAXTER PHARMACUTICALS.

THE TRUTH IS NOT OUT THERE,

KEVIN MILLER
[...]

Stem cell campaigner speaks out

Ross K, Aberdeen, Scotland — Sat, 12 Jan 2008 14:19:08 GMT

I must agree with 'Bryce S', Lanza is playing a clever game, he can get everbody on his side simply by saying 'Its only the Religous Nutjobs who oppose this', I know he would never be stupid enough to phrase it like that but in a roundabout way that's what hes trying to say. Also although generally the world has no morals left (more evident in 'The Youth of today' than anywere else) does not mean that everbody with morals is a 'Religous Nutjob', lets not forget it is those Religous morals we get our most basic Laws from. I know scores of people Agnostic, Atheist and Religous who all appose Stem Cell research because they beleive it to be unethical.
To sum up the man is playing on the increased secularism of the world today, it is easier to blame it on Religion than on peoples basic moral principles.

Stem cell campaigner speaks out

Canadian Quinn, Halifax, Nova Scotia — Sun, 13 Jan 2008 19:11:13 GMT

I really appreciate that ACT and Dr. Lanza have kept their noses to the grindstone, and kept on working. We need to get a variety of ESC lines into the laboratories as soon as we can, and their work has made that more likely.

... now we just have to onerously wait for the legislators to authorise what should be a slam-dunk.

Stem cell campaigner speaks out

Laura W Frederick MD — Sun, 13 Jan 2008 21:44:55 GMT

I do not think anything will stop this kind of research. My objections are similar to all involving manipulation at the genetic level. They do not entirely understand the proteins which cause 'supposed' defects to express whether fully or partially, nor the many variables which set the proteins in 'action'.

There is a good vs bad in this. The obvious good is transplants, curing of diabetes. But even in diabetes, is it always good? Would we have the paintings of van gogh without his 'disease', the brilliant math of Nash without his schizoprenia? The day could come that what are seen as 'defects' rob us of 'brilliance', deprive a person of what they would become and accomplish by 'struggling'.

Some of the most brilliant mathemeticians were nearly mad, Beethoven was deaf. Would be have Beethoven's symphonies if we 'cured' his deafness by this type of research?

See you in 'the brain new world'

Stem cell campaigner speaks out

J.B — Mon, 14 Jan 2008 03:07:26 GMT

All I can say is if it works then allow the funding needed to improve it. The world is indeed without morals, but our planet is also densely overpopulated. If embryo's work, then it's a start. Once we have a greater knowledge of the Stem Cell, then we can move on from ebryo's to something cheaper and easier. But simply halting progress for the sake of religious beliefs and ridiculous dogmas is absurd. There are millions of people dieing or barely surviving with different ailments and this is the answer, and yet these delusional politicians would rather bring more unwanted children into this world and watch everyone else die so they can try and manipulate the masses with a religion (sounds like the dark ages to me). But of course this is what our country has become, we lose sight on what is best for all to protect our selfish and sheltered lives. It makes me sick.

Stem cell campaigner speaks out

Delmar Fairchild, Barron, WI — Tue, 15 Jan 2008 05:21:42 GMT

This question of improving the lives of sick people with new medicines when the earth is overpopulated is certainly one that can not be answered today. The thought of killing a fetus out of convenience is just as terrible as allowing a sick person to die that wants to live. Which is just as terrible as what is going to happen when man overpopulates our planet and starts the destruction. Instead of using the knowledge of making organs for transplants or repairing spinal cords, we might have to use this knowledge to produce enough Soylent Green to feed the world's masses. If I were religious, I would cry out, God help us all!

Stem cell campaigner speaks out

Fibi — Wed, 30 Jan 2008 15:16:50 GMT

i am blind and want to see my little boy's face. i want to see the flowers in the garden, the sun in the sky and smiles on people's faces. those who are against stem cells are nasty selfish people. my child may end up blind that is why i only had one. he is all i have in the world. i live for him and to be able to see. those who go to church are supposed to be good. i think i care about my friend who stays in bed all day with really bad pains in his back. he cant move, whilst those opposed to future cures walk free. i care. do they?