Lev Lazinskiy

13 New Stem Cell Lines - Big News

I saw this on CNN today. While I was eating some oatmeal. My brother and I always have debates about stem cells and I am glad to see that this fascinating science is finally being given the opportunity to thrive in America. The rest of the world took the ball and ran with it when they first discovered stem cells. But like many issues in the United States the moral majority found a way to halt progress, slow down research, and leave us behind in this field.

For example, Dr. Francis Collins - Director for NIH, claimed that there is a research study underway that was approved by the FDA to use stem cells to discover how they can help treat spinal chord injuries and paralysis.

While this is great, and I truly hope that some significant findings come out of this research, there are clinics in India that have been having experimental research and treatment therapies to treat MS, paralysis, Diabetes, and other diseases using stem cells for years.

The controversy that the moral majority has with Stem Cells is that they claim that in order to do this research we have to take a human life. Which is understandable in certain circumstances. But they completely blow it out of proportion, brainwash the public, and halt progress like they do with many other issues in this country. They make is seem like we are going to create farms where we make babies and then kill them to take their stem cells. This is not the case by any means.

The stem cells that are being used are from extra embryos in In-Vitro Fertilization clinics that would have otherwise been discarded. They were not created for the purpose of research. They were created to help a couple have a child. But not all of them are used, in the past all of the extras were thrown away. If that is not a waste I do not know what is.

I do not agree with farming embryos for research, but I think that using emrbyos that would have been discarded is not only an ethical thing to do. It is the responsible thing to do. This is a gift from science and if we let this go to waste, then many people who could have been treated for many ailments will perish. To put it blunty - we are recycling.

I am glad that Obama has taken a strong stance on this issue, and he is moving forward and not halting progress. Hopefully something good will come out of this. I look forward to learning more about stem cells and seeing the progress that will be made at the National Institutes of Health.