Stem Cells: Saving Lives or Crossing Lines ?

Question

What do you think?!?!

Answer 1

well.. I think It's very good... well it can save lives that other medical processes and medicines can't do. Stem cells has lots of great possibilities that may someday be known, well only time may tell, with our technology getting more advanced... It MAY be possible to be Immortal... I think it's not bad and I think does not cross lines because for me it helps us a lot... but I don't know to other people they they think it's bad,

Answer 2

Both

Answer 3

Its amazing to think of all the lives that could be saved were it not for fear of the new and simple ignorance.

Answer 4

The former.  A stem cell is not a person, any more than the millions of cells that you shed every day from your skin.

Answer 5

if abortion is legal, then so should stem cell research. at least the cells are going to use, saving lives. Aborted fetuses go in the bin. and what about all the fertalized stem cells they use for IVF...the ones they done need go in the bin as well!  

Answer 6

I am here and alive today because of stem cells.

I am a leukemia patient.  I was originally diagnosed in 05, and relapsed in 07.  My docs decided the only way to give me a chance was a stem cell transplant (the medically correct term for a bone marrow transplant).

Stem cell transplants can be done using either actual marrow (since marrow by definition is stem cells), peripheral blood stem cells (a type of white blood cell harvested by aphersis...  the same basic process as at the plasma center and even some red cross donations) or cord blood donated only after a Live and Healthy birth.

I did my transplant using cord blood.  I have a rare tissue type, with no matching donors in the registry.  Stem cells for transplant are matched by HLA (human leukocyte antigen) tissue type.  For actual marrow or pbsc (peripheral blood stem cell) the match needs to be quite close, like 9/10, though a perfect match is preferred.  Cord blood doesnt have to be as close.  My cord blood stem cells were only a 6/10 match to me.

The transplant is currently approved to treat leukemias, lymphomas, myleomas and several non cancerous blood diseases.  It is in trials to treat several different auto immune diseases, can be used in conjunction with other organ transplants to give patients a chance to come off their immune system, and is a possible future cure to aids.

Answer 7

You can get stem cells from the umbilical cord - they have even got them from peoples own blood and then grown them in the laboratory before retransfusing them in numbers - so No I dont think any lines are being crossed.

Now research on embryos - that is another question.