Anti-stemcell meme from the right

[mandyky]

Beware and be ready - the wingnuts (not sure who) are telling anti-abortion folks that stemcell research is done on late term abortion fetuses. This myth needs to be debinked often, loudly and clearly!

[NoodleBoy]

1. er...

then, uh, what is stem cell research done on?

[NYCGirl]

3. They are blastocysts — an amalgam of cells in a petri dish. Not an embryo.

All the information from the NIH:

http://stemcells.nih.gov/info/basics/basics3.asp

A. What stages of early embryonic development are important for generating embryonic stem cells?

Embryonic stem cells, as their name suggests, are derived from embryos. Specifically, embryonic stem cells are derived from embryos that develop from eggs that have been fertilized in vitro—in an in vitro fertilization clinic—and then donated for research purposes with informed consent of the donors. They are not derived from eggs fertilized in a woman's body. The embryos from which human embryonic stem cells are derived are typically four or five days old and are a hollow microscopic ball of cells called the blastocyst. The blastocyst includes three structures: the trophoblast, which is the layer of cells that surrounds the blastocyst; the blastocoel, which is the hollow cavity inside the blastocyst; and the inner cell mass, which is a group of approximately 30 cells at one end of the blastocoel.

[Renew Deal]

21. I would not trust a government website on this topic.

You should find a different source. That has probably been approved by the American Minister of Information.

[mandyky]

5. Stemcell research is done

on embryoes that are about to be discarded by fertility clinincs and such.

BTW, late term abortion "embryoes" are technically Fetuses. There is a difference. Check the dictionary. Google for info about stem cell research..

[Mad As Hell]

2. They are also saying

that stem cells are unlikely to cure Alzheimer's so you can just ignore Nancy and Ron, Jr., as they are misguided.

[NYCGirl]

4. Ron himself said they may not be a cure for Alzheimer's, but

are useful as a cure in so many other diseases (or even spinal cord injuries) that the research is incredibly important.

[LynzM]

6. Like diabetes

Being diabetic, this is pretty damn important to me. They've cured mice using stem-cell therapy. But work on curing humans will move forward more slowly, if at all, given recent setbacks...

[NYCGirl]

8. Since diabetes is at epidemic levels in the US, this would be vital! (eom)

NT

[Donkeyboy75]

13. I actually do diabetes research,

and a recent article in Nature takes some of the air out of the idea that stem cells will help cure diabetes. It seems that the insulin-producing beta cells are made via replication, not through stem cell differentiation, as has been previously postulated.

The article you cite was in Nature Biotech...and it's disheartening to see no follow-up in the past year.

BTW, are you type I or II?

[mandyky]

7. I have heard this on CSpan's WJ

at least once a day, for a few weeks now - maybe we can get Ron Reagan to speak about htis in his speech at the DNC convention...

[GoBucksBeatBush]

10. ummm...that's the reason...

that he's speaking in the first place. he's already said he won't actually call for happycrack's removal, only that he's supporting kerry b/c kerry wants to move forward with stem cell research in the u.s. again (don't forget...although incurious george may have effectively shut things down for stem cell research HERE, that just means that the best scientists and researchers on this subject have to move overseas, and other countries benefit from their discoveries and expertise.)

[mandyky]

11. I mean to specifically debunk the stemcell/late term abortion

connection. I know he's speaking about Stemcell research, I just figured while he was speaking he could make clear to open minded folk that stemcells DO NOT come from any abortions!

[kskiska]

12. At first it was proposed that anyone traveling overseas

to benefit from stem cell therapy be arrested upon re-entry to the U.S. Maybe they've had second thoughts. Haven't heard any more about it.

[mandyky]

9. We also have an epidemic of autism in the USA

if stemcell research can help alzheimers, it might work on autism as well!

[Donkeyboy75]

14. But the issue is that they are taken from fertilized eggs,

and they believe that life starts there. The lie they tell is insidious, but I'm not sure that's going to change their minds if they know the truth (well, to the average guy, maybe).

[tandot]

15. People who are against stem-cell research must be against in-vitro

fertilization. This process usually creates several embryos in a petri dish and whatever isn't used in the fertilization process, is either frozen or thrown away (or aborted, if you want to call it that).

Instead of throwing these unused cells (or embryos) away, they could be used for stem-cell research.

So, I really hope they loudly voice their opinion and urge President Bush to announce opposition to in-vitro fertilizations, since abortion is one of its by-products.

I bet a lot of couples desperate trying to have babies will be happy to hear Bush's stance on that. /sarcasm


edited to add link:

http://www.religioustolerance.org/abo_inco.htm

[shraby]

16. Whatever happened to

the research done on the stem cells that are in the umbilical cords? I thought they were a viable source of stem cells.

[tandot]

18. the umbilical cord is the source of adult stem cells

they are not clear yet which (adult or embryonic) is better for which disease.

http://www.cnn.com/2001/HEALTH/08/09/stem.cell.alternative/

snip

"We don't know at this point which will be better for what," she said. "We need to learn from both. We need to learn the differences, the relative advantages, and we learn a tremendous amount by comparing the two cells."

Some other scientists disagree.

"Those adult stem cells … , this alternative, are actually much more effective at reaching these goals of therapeutic treatment," said Dr. David Prentice, a professor of life sciences at Indiana State University and a founder of Do No Harm, The Coalition of Americans for Research Ethics.

snip

I guess it depends on what side of the issue you are on. However, as long as those left-over embryos from in-vitro fertilizations are thrown away anyway, why not try to find out? What is lost?

[Warren DeMontague]

17. To Your Average Wild-Eyed Fundamentalist Right Winger

every single fertilized egg, blastocyst, or pluripotent stem cell (whoch is what we're talking about, in stem cell research) is a "late term fetus". Their whole argument, if you can call it that, centers around the dubious proposition that the Holy Ghost magically enters a woman's womb at the second sperm penetrates egg, waves a wand, mumbles in latin, and viola! You have a fully formed human being one micron across, with rights under the 14th amendment. A walkin', talkin', little tiny baby cell, with more rights than the female "breeder incubation unit" that inconveniently (due to some form of sin, probably) happens to be in charge of hosting said human for the next nine months.

And the next GOP senator from Oklahoma is damn thankful that his great-grandmorther was raped, by the way, because otherwise he wouldn't be here. Therefore, women who've been raped are supposed to smile and bear their rapists children for the good of the future.. (And, probably stop dressing like such a little hussy and "asking for it", too)

A little sidetrack on pluripotent vs. totipotent stem cells: As far as I understand it, the stem cells used in stem cell research are not totipotent cells, which are stem cells that can develop into any tissue in the body. If you look at the way cells divide in human devlopment, you go from one fertilized egg, which- since it divides to become an entire human being- has the capability to become any cell in the body, i.e. it is "totipotent".. as development proceeds, the daughter cells become increasingly specialized. Some cells down the line don't even go on to become the fetus, they go on to become the placenta and lining which feeds the fetus. As I understand it, some if not all of the stem cells used in stem cell research are these cells which have already differentiated in this fashion. So we are not talking about cells that are even in the process of becoming a fetus, we are talking about cells that are in the process of becoming the placenta. I'm fairly certain that (because, for all his faults, at least he apparently does his homework, occasionally) because he learned about this aspect of the debate, Orrin Hatch switched his position on the issues.

[mandyky]

19. We have to combat this one!

kick

[Veggie Meathead]

20. If the ignorant resistance to stem cell research continues, we will

see advanced therapies come from labs in Britain, other European countries, India, China, Japan and others which are active in biotechnology.Another great opoortunity for our scientists to contribute will be gone.And we will wonder why we are falling behind.

[IronLionZion]

22. what about fertility clinics?

are Americans so retarded that they don't want to use the millions of embryos created by fertility clinics? Most of them get destroyed anyway!

Maybe one day the wingnuts will be right. I may start to hate America, because the people are so stupid.

[Lydia Leftcoast]

23. There is no limit to the ignorance of certain fundamentalists

Back in the early 1980s, there were several fundamentalist-oriented militia groups active in the Upper Midwest.

A member of one of them was interviewed about their beliefs, and she said that they were against computers because--and I am not making this up--she said that the floppy disks used in computers were made from the brains of aborted fetuses.

:crazy: