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Changing Its Tune: CIRM
Bets On Adult Stem Cell Research
Part Two of Two
Editor’s note. The following is taken from
bioethicist Wesley J. Smith’s terrific blog at
http://www.firstthings.com/blogs/secondhandsmoke/
Well, now: In an apparent
acknowledgment that adult stem cell research is
moving much more swiftly toward clinical
application than embryonic, the CIRM [California
Institute for Regenerative Medicine] is putting
most of this year’s cache of taxpayers’ borrowed
money into adult stem cell research. The New
York Times has noticed. From the story:
In a tacit acknowledgment that
the promise of human embryonic stem cells is
still far in the future, California’s stem cell
research program on Wednesday awarded grants
intended to develop therapies using mainly
other, less controversial cells. The $230
million in grants awarded Wednesday to
California universities and companies represent
a big step toward moving stem cells from basic
research toward application in treating diseases
like cancer and AIDS. Grant recipients are
supposed to have a therapy ready for initial
human testing in four years. But only 4 of the
14 projects involve embryonic stem cells. The
others will use so-called adult stem cells or
conventional drugs intended to kill cancer stem
cells, which are thought to give rise to tumors.
The grants thus represent a
departure from the program’s original mission.
California voters approved the 10-year, $3
billion effort in 2004 largely to get around
restrictions on embryonic stem cell research
imposed by the administration of President
George W. Bush…Leaders of the California program
say that what voters really care about are
treatments for diseases, not what cell type is
used. They say that from the outset the program
was not restricted to the embryonic cells.
In other words, human cloning and
ESCR [Embryonic Stem Cell Research] hasn’t
worked out as well as expected, and now the tune
has changed. And here’s a quote the NYT would
never have carried if Bush were still President:
One project financed Wednesday
would involve retrieving cardiac stem cells from
a patient’s heart. The cells would be multiplied
in culture and then put back into the heart to
try to repair damage from a heart attack. Dr.
Eduardo Marbán of Cedars-Sinai Medical Center,
who will lead the project, said embryonic stem
cells turn into immature heart cells that might
not help an adult heart. *The last thing we want
to do is grow rogue heart cells,* Dr. Marbán
said. Funny, when
ESCR opponents used to make that very claim,
they were hooted down by “the scientists” and
their camp followers in the media. ...
Part One |
