Collegiate Times

Although, idiomatically, a very beaten dead horse, the topic of embryonic stem cell research never ceases to amaze me.

Recently, a federal judge temporarily blocked the Obama administration from using federal dollars to fund research on the subject because it involved the destruction of embryos. It is always so wonderful to see the power of the appeals court in action.

In a country now dominated by chronic illness — the Center for Disease Control and Prevention reported in 2005 one out of every two adults had at least one chronic illness, I fail to understand why society has not let our scientists take action, especially in time where our baby boomer generation is growing old, and chronic illness will most likely reach an all-time high.

A common argument I hear against ESC research — in addition to the myth that a fetus must be aborted in order to obtain stem cells — is how there exists multiple types of stem cell research. Why bother with research involving the controversial embryo?

Although there does exist two other forms of stem cell research, adult stem cells and umbilical cord stem cells, they lack what most people attribute to them — the ability to be manipulated and grown into any type of cell in the body.

It is a common misconception that all stem cells have this property; this is characteristic only of embryonic stem cells.

As a result, ESC can be used to form nerve cells, liver cells, pancreatic cells and so on.  Only they have the potential to cure the incurable, such as Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s, not to mention one of the top killers of the United States citizens — heart disease.

Promise has already been shown with stem cells in the areas of nerve regeneration and sickle cell anemia. This is not to say adult stem cells and umbilical cord stem cells are without merit, but rather to acknowledge that the potential energy of ESC research cannot be matched simply by using other forms of stem cells.

The Nightlight Christian Adoptions group is a major voice against ESC research. This group, along with others against ESC research, argue that the destruction of an embryo is the destruction of life. Doing such research, as Fox News reports, would “decrease the number of human embryos available for adoption” — AdoptUsKids already reports more than 123,000 kids waiting to be adopted.

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A version of this article appeared in the Aug 31 issue of the Collegiate Times.