STEM CELLS - Bush allows funding for research on existing stem cell lines

greenspun.com : LUSENET : Current News : One Thread

Speech currently in progress.

-- Anonymous, August 09, 2001

Answers

So, what do you think?

-- Anonymous, August 09, 2001

It may very well result in a cure for diabetes, not to mention spinal cord injuries, Parkinson's and many other debilitating illnesses and injuries. Obviously, I support the decision.

-- Anonymous, August 09, 2001

BBC News

Friday, 10 August, 2001, 04:19 GMT 05:19 UK Bush's stem cell decision: Full text

LINK

-- Anonymous, August 10, 2001


NYDailyNews

W Is Hit and Hailed For Decision

By RICHARD SISK and BILL HUTCHINSON Daily News Staff Writers

Proponents of stem cell research were pleased, if not overjoyed, with President Bush's compromise last night, but its foes were unyielding.

"I think it's a step in the right direction," paralyzed actor Christopher Reeve said on "Larry King Live."

Nevertheless, he said he was disappointed that Bush put such severe limits on federal funding for the research.

"I think it will slow down progress," he said.

Actress Mary Tyler Moore, chairwoman of the Juvenile Diabetes Research Council, praised the decision.

"I am so pleased with the thought and care that the President put into this decision, and I think it's a good one," she told King.

But Kenneth Connor, president of the Family Research Council, accused Bush of reneging on a campaign stance against all stem cell research.

He demanded that the President honor "the commitments made by his party's platform and his own campaign to protect innocent human life."

Connor added that "by casting such research in a positive light, he will encourage members of Congress to advocate additional research, which kills additional embryos."

Indeed, Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle (D-S.D.) and House Minority Leader Dick Gephardt (D-Mo.) said yesterday they had legislation ready to submit.

Bush also risked offending Catholics. Pope John Paul has called stem cell research "evil."

"The tradeoff he has announced is morally unacceptable," said Bishop Joseph Fiorenza, president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.

Scientists, on the other hand, didn't think Bush went far enough.

"The President's decision to limit federal funds to only those stem cell lines already in existence will severely inhibit our ability to unlock the huge potential of embryonic stem cells," said Dr. Michael Soules, president of the American Society for Reproductive Medicine.

-- Anonymous, August 10, 2001


After listening to his speech last night, it seems he put a lot of thought into it, and tried like hell to find a road thru the middle of the issue. This he has managed to do, I believe.

No matter what the issue, there will be those for and against. He didn't stop the research, and yet, he didn't exactly give a green light to it either, as far as expanding it. The real fear that some have for this research is the cloning of humans. Bush is trying to prevent that from happening while he is in the White House. It will happen eventually, you can be sure of that. I have to wonder if it already has, and just hasn't been leaked out yet...

-- Anonymous, August 10, 2001



http://www.boston.com/dailynews/224/nation/Umbilical_cord_blood_storag e_s:.shtml

Umbilical cord blood storage shows record sales even as benefits questioned

By Paul Elias, Associated Press, 8/12/2001 12:48

SAN BRUNO, Calif. (AP) An increasing number of parents who want to do everything possible for their children's health are paying more than $1,300 each to have umbilical cord blood, which is rich in stem cells, stored in freezers.

For-profit cord blood storage companies report record sales of their blood extraction kits, which are marketed as a sort of an insurance policy against diseases that newborns might develop in the future. They also charge annual storage fees between $45 and $95 to keep the blood frozen at minus 400 degrees.

Expecting parents hope the blood may one day be available for tailor- made therapies for their children, banking on the knowledge that a body will be less apt to reject treatments originating in cells it produced while in the womb.

Extracted with a syringe from a baby's detached umbilical cord a few minutes after birth, the blood contains plenty of stem cells, which many scientists believe will one day enable the repair and regeneration of disease-ridden tissue.

In rare circumstances, these stem cells have already proven useful. About 500 people a year mostly leukemia patients have received transplants of cord blood-derived stem cells that help regenerate healthy bone marrow.

But some operators of nonprofit cord blood banks say its a sham to charge parents to store this blood, since existing treatments using the blood are quite rare and other therapies based on stem cells are years away.

They insist that public cord banks provide the same service as private banks without cost to parents. Insurance doesn't cover private storage fees, but will pay public banks for cord blood units for transplants.

''This is like taking insurance against a lightning strike,'' John Fraser, director of the nonprofit UCLA Umbilical Cord Blood Bank, where donated blood can go to any eligible patient. ''The odds are extremely remote that your child will ever benefit from cord blood.''

The American Academy of Pediatrics also advises against paying private companies to store umbilical cord blood. ''No accurate estimate exists of the likelihood of children to need their own stored cells,'' the academy tells its member doctors.

Indeed, not one of the 20,000 parents who stored cord blood with the for-profit Cryo-Cell International Inc. of Clearwater, Fla. have requested the units for transplants. Competitor Cord Blood Registry of San Bruno has shipped just 14 of the 30,000 units it stores to hospitals for transplants. In all, there are about a dozen for-profit cord blood storage companies.

''They are playing into the vulnerability of a pregnant family,'' Fraser said of the private blood banks' marketing materials, which advertise that newborns' cord blood has the potential to better treat leukemia, sickle cell anemia and other diseases.

Still, for mothers like Melissa Segal of Studio City, the $1,295 she paid Cord Blood Registry two years ago to store her son Daniel's cord blood and the $95 annual fee she continues to submit buys her peace of mind.

''It's the best money I've ever spent,'' said Segal, who quit her law practice to care for her son. ''I have no regrets.''

Segal, who is eight months pregnant, believes Daniel's cord blood could someday help treat her second child, a girl, if she were to develop a rare disease.

''Stem cells have a wonderful potential,'' Segal said.

And potential is exactly what the for-profit companies say they're selling.

''Cord blood looks to be a promising alternative to bone marrow for treating a variety of blood diseases and cancer,'' said Cord Blood Registry co-founder Stephen Grant. ''It's a type of biological insurance.''

Dr. Joanne Kurtzberg has conducted about 90 cord-blood transplants using some of the 5,000 units donated to Duke University's public cord bank. She said it remains unclear whether cord blood transplants can be successfully used on a wide variety of diseases.

Still, private banks might have value for families with a predisposition to diseases like leukemia and sickle cell anemia, she said.

''If you have the money, there's definitely no harm in storing cord blood with a private bank,'' she said. ''Maybe something in the future will develop.''

There's no national program for cord blood as there is with bone marrow. The private banks are competitors, and share nothing with each other; the public banks operate independently and are constantly running short of funding.

The University of California, Los Angeles stopped collecting cord blood in June because it ran out of money. Duke recently put its bank under the aegis of the Red Cross to ensure a steady funding stream, while the New York City Blood Center the nation's largest nonprofit cord blood bank depends on grants from foundations.

Public banks throw away half the donated cord blood units because the donors have a disposition to blood-borne disease or the donated units were too small to use. Donors also agree to let the public banks use their blood for unrelated transplants.

Private banks, on the other hand, will store anybody's cord blood and will not donate it without the parents' consent.

Four million U.S. babies are born a year, and more than 3.9 million umbilical cords are thrown away without banking the blood. Even capturing less than one percent of the potential market, both Cord Blood Registry and Cryo-Cell say they're profitable.

http://www.cordblood.med.ucla.edu/

http://www.cordbloodregistry.com

http://www.cryo-cell.com

http://www.aap.org

-- Anonymous, August 12, 2001


Moderation questions? read the FAQ