Stem cells/type 1 diabetes

[rattitude]

So potentially stem cells could great increase the ability to introduce islet cells that work to cure people with type 1. But I wonder just how soon this sort of research would bear fruit? I think that sometimes the advantages are overstated in time scale. It may well be 20-50 years before this is a viable treatment--or longer...

[jumpinjax]

I'm not really sure how I feel about stem cell research. On the one hand, I think it is like taking a life, but if I had a relative who could potentially benefit from it , I would probably be all for it. It's a tricky call, because so many people have such strong feelings about it.

[RaymiesMom]

I was under the impression that the cells used were going to be thrown away anyway, not that the fetuses were specifically for the purpose of obtaining stem cells. If my impression is correct, there is no question in my mind about using the cells for research.

[rattitude]

Exactly, thank-you. The embryos are small cell clusters/few day old fertilised eggs created as a byproduct of fertility treatment and otherwise go into the incinerator. Whether you consider that a human life or not, it is a life fertility clinic are allowed to create and destry at will. Yet somehow fertility treatment has great PR and no criticism even from the far right. I really don't undertsna it except in that more influentual Republicans are effected by infertility than degenerative disease and their ethics conform conveniently to their needs.

[sstrumello]

Personally, I think that a lot of the discussion is tainted by language. For example, might people feel differently if we called it "blastocyst stem cell research"? The discussion has been influenced by the words and language used, which is unfortunate because it defers a genuine conversation about the issue. We should keep in mind that while blastocysts are destroyed in the stem cell extraction process, these would never have become living things because they were created in fertility clinics and the excess blastocysts are routinely discarded as medical waste because many people cannot afford to pay $15,000/year charged by some fertility clinics for long-term storage of unneeded blastocysts. Could we use this medical waste to advance our understanding of science?