Little Stuff, Little Steps: Adult or Embryonic Stem Cell Research: Which to Fund?

The Stem Cell Research Enhancement Act would allow federal funding for new embryonic stem cell research. It is supported by majorities in the U.S. House of Representatives and the Senate, more than five hundred scientific, patient rights, disease advocacy, medical, and education groups, former Presidents Carter, Ford, and Clinton, Nobel prize-winning scientists, and the overwhelming majority of the American people.

Unfortunately, the Enhancement Act is opposed by President George Bush, backed by powerful religious/ideological forces. They suggest adult stem cells, as a substitute.

Adult stem cells have been studied for more than fifty years. Limited but useful, adult stem cells are found in small quantities throughout our bodies, where they make minor repairs. For example, our skin sheds cells every day; adult stem cells replace them. In medical therapies, adult stem cells are valuable in bone marrow transplants, where they help treat blood disorders and certain cancers. For research, though, the National Institutes of Health calls adult stem cells “rare and hard to work with”.

Made from biological materials otherwise discarded, embryonic stem cells are totipotent, meaning they can (with encouragement) become any organ in our bodies. They are like cash, which can be spent anywhere. Adult stem cells, on the other hand, are not built to change, being more like certificates redeemable only at certain stores.

Opponents cite a long list of (alleged) treatments and cures made by adult stem cells, supposedly benefiting sufferers of Parkinson’s, paralysis, and many other diseases—and eliminating the need for embryonic stem cell research. The list has been discredited. Who developed it? A religious lobbyist, Dr. David Prentice, employee of the Family Research Council, considered one of the most powerful political forces of the Religious Right.

Similarly, Bush Presidential adviser Karl Rove stated, “there is far more promise in adult stem cells than in embryonic”—but when a White House spokesman was asked at a press conference to back up Mr. Rove’s statement, and provide names of scientists who agreed, he could not name any.

Favored by the Bush Administration, adult stem cells receive many times more federal funding than the embryonic variety. In the past six years, a White House position paper reveals, stem cell research has received a total of “nearly $3 billion” in federal funds—but less than 5% of that ($130 million) went to embryonic studies.

Can adult stem cells be manipulated to become as powerful as embryonic? In 2002, a widely-cited study by Dr. Catherine Verfaillie appeared to show that adult stem cells could be “tweaked” to become different cells. Unfortunately, flaws in her study have been found, her findings questioned-- and the Verfaillie results have not been duplicated.

Should narrow ideological pressure groups block the clearly established will of the American people? Or should stem cell research move forward? The choice is up to you.