> Frater: What this can 'breakthrough' show us is that if we will 'wait on God' and use the heritage and intelligence He provides, and guided by the Church, these ethical dilemmas like stem cell research can be resolved in a way that validates and vindicateds what the natural law teaches. It will be interesting to watch the 'choice' crowd reaction in the days ahead. Blessings.GDVW+ This sounds like it could be a way around the ethical problems presented > by the use of embryonic stem cells that requires the destruction of the > embryo itself. From what I've seen up until this point, the most effective > treatments which have been attempted have come from adult stem cells > gathered from fat and bone marrow. However, the secular scientific > community continues to claim that the embryonic stem cells hold the > greatest "promise" in a theoretical sense. I'm afraid Fr. John may be > right--the real issue here may not be therapeutic effectiveness, but the > right to use human life in whichever way the "scientific community" deems > fit. > > DH+ > > gmspencer@... wrote: > This is wonderful news! I'd love to hear Fr. Derrick Hassert say > something about this. When he was here at All Saints, he and Deacon > Gene Godbold taught a very popular class on Bio Ethics. > gms+ > > > -----Original Message----- > From: John S. Longcamp > To: faithandlife@... > Sent: Fri, 23 Nov 2007 12:11 pm > Subject: [FaithandLife] Breakthrough? > > > > > > > > > > > > > > Brothers+ >  > If this discovery holds up, we have something to be > very thankful for this Thanksgiving. However, I doubt this news will > be > received with universal joy, for liberals seem determined to fight for > the right > to destroy human embyos in the name of science. Let us pray but watch > and > see. >  > John+ >  > > Stem–Cell Breakthrough > Wall Street > Journal > November 23, > 2007 > By > Maureen > Condic > And > Markus Grompe > For almost a decade now, > embryonic stem cells (ESCs) have been heralded as a panacea for a range > of > ailments—­from neurological disorders such as Parkinson's to > failing > organs > in can­cer patients. These remarkable cells do have the potential to > bring > medical advances: They can turn into every cell type of the body, and > can > provide a potentially unlimited supply of transplantable cells. > > The trouble has been that > ESC research came with a heavy price-the cells could only be obtained > by > destroying human embryos. > This ignited an intensely > polarized debate be­tween those opposed to embryo-destructive > re­search > and others who thought that the thera­peutic potential of the work > justified > the use of human embryos. > From early on, however, > there were voices­—Stanford University's William B. Hurlbut, a > mem­ber > of the President's Council on Bioethics, fore­most among > them-suggesting > that this moral and political dispute could have a solution that was > both > scientifically and ethically acceptable; that science could solve the > dilemma it > created. > Now that hope appears to > have been dramati­cally realized, and the landscape has radically > changed. > Two major scientific papers published this week in Science and Cell > magazines > unveil a proven way to generate patient-matched, human pluripotent stem > cells > without human cloning, and without the use of human embryos or human or > animal > eggs. Researchers have generated "in­duced pluripotent state" cells > with the > proper­ties of human embryonic stem cells by direct > "re­programming" of > adult cells. They produced cells like those derived from embryos, but > without > any ethical controversy. > Reprogramming now allows > us to exploit the advantages of embryonic stem cells without > de­stroying > human embryos. Here's how it works: Adult cells are obtained from a > skin biopsy > by a procedure no more painful than a blood draw. The skin cells are > grown in > culture and then treated with a combination of four reprogram­ming > factors, > inserted into the adult cells with a gene-therapy virus. Within two to > three > weeks, the combined effect of these factors converts some of the adult > skin > cells into induced pluripo­tent state cells (iPSCs). > Remarkably, iPSCs have > all the relevant prop­erties that make embryonic stem cells so > attrac­tive: They grow indefinitely and can produce all cell types. > The > senior scientist of the American team is James Thomson, who first > described > hu­man embryonic stem cells in 1998. Thus, his con­clusion that > iPSCs > are virtually identical to embryo-derived stem cells carries special > weight. > > The induced pluripotent > cells are actually su­perior to embryo-derived stem cells in one > critical > respect: They are patient-specific and hence will not be rejected by > the immune > system of the person from whom they are derived. The ability to > generate > embryonic stem cells matched to a particular person was the main reason > for > efforts to produce human embryos by so-called therapeutic cloning. Now > even the > scientist who generated "Dolly" the sheep and developed mammalian > cloning, Ian > Wilmut from Scotland, has concluded that direct > reprogramming is a superior method for this purpose. He recently > announced that > he is abandoning cloning research and is focusing his efforts on direct > reprogramming. > It should be cautioned > that this astonishing break-through will not produce immediate cures. > The > therapeutic potential of all human pluripo­tent stem cells, including > those > generated by direct reprogramming, remains uncertain. The risk for > tumor > formation (a feature common to all pluripotent stem cells) is a grave > concern, > and the risk may be higher in iPSCs than in embryo-derived stem cells, > because > the genes used for re­programming remain inserted in the cell. > > In addition, the > efficient conversion of pluri­potent stem cells to transplantable > cells > that > will be useful in the clinic is not yet possible for any human cell > type, > although much progress has been made. Thus, no immediate therapies > should be > expected from human pluripotent stem cell-based therapy, either embryo > derived > or iPSC. > Still, pluripotent stem > cells have very impor­tant uses apart from therapy, and here iPSCs > are > clearly superior to embryo-derived ESCs. Pluripo­tent stem cells can > be > used > to study "developmen­tal biology in a dish." They enable researchers > to > observe how human organs and tissues form. > The insights garnered > from such studies are likely to lead to the development of new drugs > and > strategies which can benefit human health. > Direct reprogramming > techniques make it possible to generate pluripotent cells from specific > individuals, including those with particular diseases. It will be > possible to > make iPSCs from children with Fanconi's anemia, a devastating genetic > disease, > and to study the effects of candidate drugs on the formation of human > blood. > These kinds of experiments are now immediately possible and likely will > be the > first practical appli­cation of iPSCs. > The exciting finding that > patient-specific pluripotent stem cells can be generated easily and > efficiently > through direct reprogramming, without the use of human eggs or the > generation of > human embryos, is a tremendous leap forward. Science has provided a > resolution > to the ethical and political debate, and all parties emerge victorious. > Scientists have access to an ethically uncompromised source of > pluripotent stem > cells for research, patients may ultimately benefit from therapies > using these > cells, and all citizens are spared the corrosive effects of ongoing > cultural > warfare over embryo-destructive research. > This new finding offers > the best possible out­come to a debate that for too long pitted > science > and > ethics against each other. > Dr. Condie is professor > of neurobiology and anatomy at the University of Utah. Dr. Grompe, > M.D., is professor of > molecular and medical genet­ics at Oregon > Health and Science University and director of Oregon Stem Cell > Center. Both are senior > fellows of the Westchester Institute for Ethics & the Human Person. > >  > > > -- > To unsubscribe, send ANY message to: faithandlife-unsubscribe@associate. > com > > > > > > > > > > ________________________________________________________________________ > Email and AIM finally together. You've gotta check out free AOL Mail! - > http://mail.aol.com > > -- > To unsubscribe, send ANY message to: > faithandlife-unsubscribe@... > > > > > --------------------------------- > Be a better pen pal. Text or chat with friends inside Yahoo! Mail. See > how. > -- > To unsubscribe, send ANY message to: > faithandlife-unsubscribe@... > ----------------------------------------- Check out Catholic Online's NEW Catholic Encyclopedia! http://www.catholic.org/encyclopedia/