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Now that  scientists who want to use  human embryos for destructive research have succeeded in deceiving   Federal and Victorian parliaments into passing  legislation allowing them to clone and kill, they are acknowledging  the truth: this research is not going to provide cures for any disease or disability in the foreseeable future, if ever.   

In the  May issue of  Melbourne University Magazine, Professor Loane Skene, chair of the Lockhart Committee which recently reviewed Australian stem cell legislation,  is quoted as saying:  ".... cures for human diseases were not likely to be available for many years, if at all, as many experiments would be needed to prove that such procedures would work and would be safe.  There will need to be tests on animals and then clinical trials involving humans as well as extensive testing for quality assurance and safety.  This is likely to take at least a decade and possibly much longer” 

Professor Skene is only confirming what Professor Mark Kirkland of the Douglas Hocking research Institute said in 2005:  "Embryonic stem cell research will not be a viable and generally available clinical option for at least another ten years, and by the time such therapies are available they will have been supplanted by cellular therapies based on adult stem cells".  

There are now over 75 treatments for diseases and disabilities using adult stem cells and  more potential from stem cells derived from cord blood, placentas and amniotic fluid  - all achievable without killing embryos.  Tragic cases like the late Christopher Reeves and others in wheel chairs were paraded before politicians and the public  in a cynical vote-buying exercise.  Even now, diabetics associations  have been fooled into believing that embryonic stem cells hold hope when actual treatments are becoming available from adult stem cells.

Human Rights of the Donor

But beyond the scientific deception, the Federal and Victorian legislation allowing cloning raises serious human rights issues.  In Victoria the Parliamentary Scrutiny of Acts and Regulations Committee issued an alert advising Parliament that the legislation breaches international standards that require non-therapeutic research to be no more than low risk.  The risks to women involved in providing the eggs are high:  risks include hyper-stimulation of ovaries, general anaesthesia and abdominal surgery.   

The National Perinatal Statistics Unit Report for 2004 records that there were 308 ovarian hyper-stimulation syndrome cases reported for women who underwent IVF treatment cycles in Australia in 2004.  Of these, 83% were admitted to hospital.  Ovarian hyper-stimulation syndrome is a life threatening condition - ovaries become large and painful, fluid may leak  into the abdomen and chest resulting in serious fluid and electrolyte imbalance.   

Women accept these risks in their efforts to have a child, but why should they undertake life-threatening complications for no identifiable benefit  to themselves or anyone else?  In the case of bone marrow donations, which also involve some risk, there is an identifiable beneficiary, the recipient who is suffering from a lethal blood disorder.  But who is going to benefit from putting at risk the lives or future fertility  of women persuaded  - or coerced - into donating eggs? 

There are historical precedents that should make us pause before we embark on this unbrave new world of human experimentation.  The Nazis dunked prisoners in freezing water to find out how long pilots who had to bail out could survive in the North Sea.  No doubt the information is useful - but are we entitled to use  human beings in such experiments?

Embryo Redefined

In 2005 Australia signed the UN Declaration banning all forms of  human cloning.  We are also signatories to the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child which calls for protection of the child before as well as after birth.  Redefining the embryo,  which is what the Lockhart Committee did to evade the protection of this Treaty, was sleight of hand worthy of a magician.  However,  the  real magic is in adult stem cells, not mythical  clones.

End to this research

The American College of Pediatricians (ACP) has called for an end to embryonic stem cell research and recommends the exclusive support of already proven effective adult stem cell research. "Not only does embryonic research require taking the life of human embryos, it also prolongs needless suffering by delaying the development of more promising adult stem cell treatments and cures," stated Michelle Cretella, MD, Fellow of the American College of Pediatricians.  

Research using non-embryonic sources of stem cells, including amniotic fluid, umbilical cord blood, placenta and adult blood, fat and various organs, have yielded impressive results, the organization suggests. "Adult stem cells are now routinely used in certain forms of cancer therapy. Over the last decade, these cells have been used to successfully treat spinal cord injuries, heart failure, Parkinson's disease, diabetes and dozens of other conditions in human trials." 

The group noted further that "This has not been the case with any embryonic stem cell trial. Instead, there have been catastrophic results with these cells producing the wrong tissue, forming tumors and triggering immune rejection." 

Concluding, the ACP said, "Every dollar spent on the failed and unnecessary process of embryonic stem cell research steals resources away from the established utility and potential of adult stem cell research. This is fiscally irresponsible and medically unconscionable."

More Spin from Geron

According to Tom Okarma, CEO of Geron, D-Day is approaching for embryonic stem cells. He says the world's first clinical trial will begin early next year on patients with spinal cord injury in six trauma centres across the US and that  because of the intense scrutiny that these trials are sure to receive from the US Food & Drug Administration, from the media, and from hostile critics of the ethically contentious technology, extensive preparatory work has taken place. Animal tests have already shown that nerve cells grown from human embryonic stem cells can repair spinal cord injuries in rats. "Paralysed rats can walk again," says the Financial Times, although this has been disputed by critics.

Mr Okarma claims that rapid progress has been made since human embryonic stem cells were first isolated in 1998. Even more ground could have been covered except for the intransigence of the Bush Administration.  [President Bush did not ban the research, he just refused federal funding] However, Okarma and his supporters are wary of raising public expectations too high. Hans Kierstead, head of the embryonic stem cell team at University of California Irvine, says: "I find it unfair that people demand so much from such a young field. Just look at the strides we have already made."   (Unfair?  what about all the embryos killed in the process?) 

And Bob Klein, the chairman of the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine, which has been authorised to  spend at least $3 billion over 10 years on stem cell research, told a biotechnology conference in Boston recently that good spin doctors would be needed to put across the right message in the event of setbacks. “The ideological right is not asleep," said Mr Klein. "They will be prepared to spin [any problems] to promote their opposition to embryonic stem cell research, and we'll need a sophisticated fast-response messaging team to put across our message." ~ Financial Times, May 9

Yet another D-day?

Richard Doerflinger, Deputy Director of the secretariat for Pro-Life Activities of the US Conference of Catholic Bishops points out that this is not the first time Geron has announced that D-day is approaching for embryonic stem cell clinical trials.

  Here is an August 2006 report saying that human trials are expected "next year": http://www.technologyreview.com/read_article.aspx?ch=specialsections&sc=stemcell&id=17256

   In  June 2006 Geron reported it  is "confident" of trials "nextyear":

http://www.newscientist.com/article.ns?id=dn9349&feedId=online-news_rss20 

   Here is a March 2006 report saying that Geron hopes for approval for human trials in first quarter of 2007:

http://www.wired.com/medtech/health/news/2006/03/70521

   Here is a May 2005 report saying that human trials would begin in late 2006 or early 2007 (in other words, by now):

http://www.researchamerica.org/publications/articles/oneyearstemcel5-06.html

Here is an April 2005 report with Geron saying that human trials could begin in mid-2006:

http://www.wired.com/medtech/health/news/2005/04/67266

Here is Geron in December 2004 saying it hopes to begin human trials in 2005 or early 2006:

http://www.reason.com/news/show/34942.html

Here is a report citing the San Francisco Chronicle of March 18, 2002, saying that Kierstead [of Geron] will be requesting approval for human trials soon:

http://www.cloninginformation.org/info/cloningfact/fact-02-03-18.htm

Here is a report that he has been trying to bring this approach to human trials since 1999:

http://www.lifelinecelltech.com/saboard.html

No doubt all these D-Days help to push up the share price of Geron.

Safe Embryonic Cell?

Dr. David van Gend of “Do No Harm” points out that the only safe embryonic stem cell is one that is no longer an embryonic stem cell. A review of a dozen recent studies shows that any implanted ESC formed tumours in the animal, as expected, and so the only way ‘forward’ is to first turn ESCs into ‘terminally differentiated cells’ – that is, stable nerve cells or muscle cells – before transplanting them. Then, because there are no more ESCs, there is no more tumour risk. One paper calls residual ESCs ‘unwanted differentiating types’, and the task is to get rid of them completely. But that is an admission of defeat by the ESC scientists. They cannot risk a genuine stem cell transplant, which is the great promise of regenerative medicine – all they can hope to do is transplant  a bunch of ‘terminally differentiated’ cells, which might have a transient effect, but cannot regenerate themselves and soon die. A transplant of cells is nothing new or of any lasting benefit to patients, yet that is what ESCs are reduced to. Meantime adult stem cells are transplanted in their full vigour and cause no harm, only lasting good to the patients. Companies pretending ESCs are going to be used in humans are perpetrating a confidence trick to get political support and public money for this dead-end embryonic science.

Egg Market Grows in US

Bioethicists  worry whether the allure of dollars to cover college fees or credit card bills might cloud young women's judgement. "We hear about egg donors being paid enormous amounts of money, $50,000 or $60,000," Josephine Johnston, of The Hastings Center told the New York Times. "How much is that person actually giving informed consent about the medical procedure and really listening and thinking as it's being described and its risks are explained?"

Powerful drugs given to women egg-donors to harvest their eggs can cause paralysis, limb amputation and death warns a new study by Italian experts. The warning comes from researchers at the University of Padua published in the journal Thrombosis  and Thrombolysis.  Thirtyfour  women suffered severe reactions to the hormone-stimulating drugs, which increase the number of eggs for extraction. Most of these women had previously enjoyed good health.   An analysis of doctors' reports since the early 1990s revealed to the researchers that 60 per cent of the accidents involved blood clots in the head and neck.