Michigan Catholic Conference Educates Catholics on
Adult Stem Cell Successes

Not so long ago most Americans had very limited sources of information. Three television networks, the local newspaper, a handful of radio stations, and three national news weeklies about summed up the informational universe.

Now the Internet, cable television, talk radio, Blackberry, MP3, blogs, cell phones, POD casts,--to just scratch the surface of all the new innovations--now make it possible to be wired virtually 24/7. But if that is true, why is it that so much that we "know" isn't accurate?

Obviously, one explanation is that quantity does not necessarily guarantee quality. But another is most people, awash in a sea of data, necessarily selectively chose what (and from what sources) they read.

And even today, with so many alternatives available, the traditional major media still exert a disproportionate influence. If they decide to elevate hype over real performance--as they have consistently done in the controversy over "stem cells"-- a lot of people will have the vague impression that stem cells harvested from human embryos are not only already a success story but the only possible source to cure or ameliorate a wide variety of diseases.

Last week the Michigan Catholic Conference went on the offensive. It distributed educational material to more than 500,000 Catholic homes and 800 parishes to help recipients understand the differences between adult and embryonic stem cell research. "The education program intends to overcome an onslaught of misinformation about this critically important subject," Paul Long wrote in today's Detroit News.

Long, vice president of public policy for the Michigan Catholic Conference, explained in his op-ed, "A central message of the church's program is to communicate its unwavering support for adult stem cell research, which is helping to treat dozens of diseases without cloning and killing human embryos -- as embryonic stem cell research necessitates."

You can read Mr. Long's excellent overview at www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2007710090311, so let me  add just one other point.

If you only watched, say, CBS or read only newspapers such as the New York Times, you wouldn't have a clue that there are near-miraculous cures that have followed the use of alternative sources of stem cells. Nor would you know of the plethora of plentiful, morally acceptable sources--everything from the amniotic fluid that surrounds unborn babies, umbilical cord blood and bone marrow to fat tissue, dental pulp, and human hair follicles!

Would it be easier to have NBC News run a multi-part series that examined the comparative success in humans using embryonic stem cells (none) versus adult stem cells (many)? Sure.

In the meanwhile it's up to the rest of us to do our part to spread the truth. We do that here at NRLC on a daily basis. And thanks to people like the readers of TN&V, that truth is spread far and wide.

Please send your comments and observations to Daveandrusko@hotmail.com.