Stem Cell Research In Australia
A single cell is removed from a human embryo to be used to generate embryonic stem cells for scientific research.
Just a quick note for those of you who may have missed this. The Australian House Of Representatives has passed the bill to allow for the theraputic cloning of human embryos for medical research. Of course, the conservatives are all up in arms and I say "ner ner nerne ner" to them. The bill was approved by a vote of 82 to 62 in the House of Representatives, after being passed by the Senate last month. A poll published in June showed strong public support for stem cell research, with 80 percent public support for using cloning techniques to create embryonic stem cells.
LINKS:
Stem Cell Secret
australia , stem cells , stem cell research , youtube , michael j fox , embryonic , cloning
Sam Harris on Stem Cell Research
posted by beepbeepitsme | 11:01 pm
27 Comments:
The only thing that I have to say on this topic is that adult stem cells have been proven to work, while embryonic stem cells haven't produced one good thing yet. But if you are determined to kill unborn babies, what can I do?
Daniel
A less than 2 week old clutch of cells is not a baby, no matter how much semantically, you want it to be so.
RE: anonymous daniel
The umbilical cords of new born babies are harvested for stem cell transfer and they have proven to be an extremely useful and effective resource.
Not only do Newborn infants no longer need their umbilical cords, so they have traditionally been discarded as a by-product of the birth process.
In recent years, however, the multipotent-stem-cell-rich blood found in the umbilical cord has proven useful in treating the same types of health problems as those treated using bone marrow stem cells and PBSCs.
Umbilical cord blood stem cell transplants are less prone to rejection than either bone marrow or peripheral blood stem cells.
This is probably because the cells have not yet developed the features that can be recognized and attacked by the recipient's immune system.
Also, because umbilical cord blood lacks well-developed immune cells, there is less chance that the transplanted cells will attack the recipient's body, a problem called graft versus host disease.
Both the versatility and availability of umbilical cord blood stem cells makes them a potent resource for transplant therapies.
http://learn.genetics.utah.edu/units/stemcells/sctoday/
RE anonymous daniel
Embryo: In man, the developing organism is an embryo from about two weeks after fertilization to the end of seventh or eighth week.
http://www.biology-online.org/dictionary/Embryo
(The clutch of cells is only allowed to have cells extracted from it up to a period of growth of 2 weeks. All cells must be destroyed at the 2 week growth period.
Fetus: In human development, the period after the seventh or eighth week of pregnancy is the foetal period. http://www.biology-online.org/dictionary/Fetus
Baby: In human development a baby is a very young child (birth to 1 year) who has not yet begun to walk or talk.
http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/baby
The stage at which stem cell research is conducted is prior to 2 weeks, under no semantically preferential system can this blastocyst be considered a baby.
Conception is the point that most, or all, pro-life groups and conservative Christians define as the beginning of pregnancy.
Most of these groups define the start of a human person as occurring at conception. The medical definition of the start of pregnancy is about 10 days later, at implantation.
At conception the zygote divides into two cells, called blastomeres. They subdivide once every 12 to 20 hours as the zygote slowly passes down the fallopian tubes.
About 3 days after conception: The zygote now consists of 16 cells and is called a 16 cell morula (a.k.a. pre-embryo). It has normally reached the junction of the fallopian tube and the uterus.
(At this stage it is not a baby and not even a fetus, it is a morula.)
5 days or so after conception: A cavity appears in the center of the morula. The grouping of cells are now called a blastocyst.
(5 days after conception and it is still not a fetus and it isn't a baby either. It is now a blastocyst.)
9 or 10 days after conception: Still not an embryo, still not a fetus, and still not a baby - it is a blastocyst.
12 days or so after conception: The blastocyst has started to produce hormones which can be detected in the woman's urine. This is is the event that all (or almost) all pro-choice groups and almost all physicians (who are not conservative Christians) define to be the start of pregnancy.
(Still not an embryo, still not a fetus, still not a baby. Still a blastocyst.)
13 or 14 days after conception:
The pre-embryo is now referred to as an embryo. It is a very small blob of undifferentiated tissue at this stage of development.
At this point research ceases and the cells are destroyed.
A blastocyst is not a baby. An acorn is not a tree, and the fried eggs you had for breakfast are not chickens.
Dear Anonymous Daniel,
We'll all take your claims about embryos and foetuses being babies a lot more seriously if you do the following:
1. Change the date of Christmas Day to 26 April.
That is all.
Sorry, Anonymous D, that should read 25 April, not 26 April.
That should make a bit more sense now.
To think that once I was a mere blastocyst. I think that that explains many things about my life.
After all, how can a blastocyst amount to anything? Cheers!
Re: Dikkii
1. Change the date of Christmas Day to 26 April.
Does it have to be April? My family tends to favour April for birthdays.
26th 25th Either way works for me.
"ner ner nerne ner"
Not as erudite as you response to Daniel, but I like it lots, none-the-less.
{-;
How about not celebrating Christ's-Mass at all? I'm not Catholic or pagan.
Daniel
This is great news for so many people. Thank goodness there is some sanity in the world.
I'm not going to get into the baby talk. These things are not wee babies, they are cells.
Ted said:
Does it have to be April? My family tends to favour April for birthdays.
Well, it would be consistent with conception, but I suppose it's really arbitrary, isn't it?
Anonymous Daniel said:
How about not celebrating Christ's-Mass at all? I'm not Catholic or pagan.
Whoever said anything about celebrating it?
RE: These things are not wee babies, they are cells.
What are you made of?
RE under:
I am made of sugar and spice and everything nice. You, on the other hand, are made of snips and snails , and puppy dog tails.
You forgot to mention
...Sunshine and rainbows and ribbons for hairbows; Tea parties, laces, and baby doll faces.
Personally, I am quite content as I am.
Glad that you are content with the way you are. Now assume that other people are content the way THEY are and quit trying to ram your version of religion down their throats.
Sorry, I did not know you were against discussion with those who hold beliefs different than your own. To people holding different positions can still have a polite and beneficial conversation if respect is practiced by both sides.
You rather clearly make your own beliefs known, why do you not like others doing so? You know that if you do now wish me to post here all you have to do is ask, I have told you that before.
RE under
By all means chatter amoung yourselves. Just don't expect your chatter to be taken seriously.
A change of position?
RE under:
No change of position, I am just suggesting that you continue to chatter among yourselves like the 3 faces of eve - except your 3 faces are the holy spook, jebus and gawd which yourself, chatters away with.
By all means continue the chatter with your other personalities.
Hmmmm, I tried to make a comment here, but the system must have eaten it.
Anyway, I'm still celebrating this not-all-that-small victory for reason.
To continue, one must start. I never did.
But I am curious where you got the idea that I did, please share.
You don't talk to god and his 3 faces? How interesting...
Ahh, I did not know that you considered me to be God.
I don't. But you believe that a god speaks through you.
If you dont then why did you tell me to talk to myselves instead of my God?
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