EMBRYONIC STEM CELLS & CLONING
David Prentice
• Embryonic stem cells (ESC) derived from destruction of early human embryos
• Destroys young human life; zero successful treatments or disease models
• Basic biology: an embryo is the earliest stage of development in any life
• Requires destruction of the embryo • Human ESC first derived in lab in 1998; mouse ESC derived in
1981 • No patient treatments, few and modest success in mice
Sources of Embryos: Fertilized embryos; Cloned embryos
• Frozen “leftover” embryos—a bait & switch; Not enough available, no genetic diversity • Need to create embryos for experiments—egg & sperm donors, or Cloning • Cloning--zero success getting cells after over 10 years of attempts
Destructive Embryo Research Offers False Promises
• Problems continue to plague ESC research • Tumor formation; Misplaced tissue types, Malfunctioning cells; -
Transplant rejection • Embryonic stem cell experts themselves note any potential
treatments are decades away
• Fertilization and Cloning both produce living embryos • Cloning, a.k.a. Somatic Cell Nuclear Transfer (technique used for
Dolly the cloned sheep) • [Transfer of Nucleus (chromosomes) from Somatic Cell (body cell)
into an egg cell to make clone] • Creating embryos for experiments will require massive harvest of
women’s eggs • Exploiting women’s bodies as raw material for experiments, severe
health risks, incl. death
ONE PAGER • JULY 2010 OP10G04
ALTERNATIVE TO PRODUCE EMBRYONIC STEM CELLS Technique developed for human cells in 2007, Japanese & U.S. scientists “Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells” (iPS cells) Use any cell (e.g., skin, blood), add genes to reprogram normal cell Induced (reprogrammed) stem cells act like embryonic stem cells
• No embryos, eggs, or cloning used • Can make iPS cell from any person, including any patient • Cheaper, easier than ESC, ethical (no destruction of human life)
Stem Cells for Patient Treatment—ADULT STEM CELLS Currently treating thousands of patients for dozens of diseases Additional information and background http://www.frc.org/life--bioethics#stem_cells
ONE PAGER • JULY 2010 OP10G04
