STEM CELL RESEARCH: Don't let radicals stand in
the way of saving lives
By
SHERMAN THOMPSON PARKER
Friday, Jul. 15 2005
During the 2005 legislative session in Missouri,
there was an effort to criminalize scientific
research that uses a technique called
somatic-cell nuclear transfer, or SCNT.
SCNT is a scientific breakthrough that allows
scientists to produce embryonic stem cells in a
laboratory by removing the nucleus of a donated
unfertilized human egg cell and replacing it
with the nucleus of a patient's cell, such as a
skin cell. The stem cells produced develop in
Petri dishes and cannot become a human being.
Like many other Republicans - including Sens.
John McCain and Orrin Hatch and former Missouri
Sen. John Danforth - I believe that early stage
stem cell research holds great promise for cures
to diseases like Parkinson's, sickle-cell
disorders, diabetes and Alzheimer's.
We
must take a common-sense approach to SCNT
research to understand its potential. Radical
efforts to criminalize it in Missouri would be
devastating to the St. Louis region, which has
the potential to become the next biotech center
of America. The Brookings Institution affirmed
this point when they identified four regions in
the United States as having the scientific and
university research capacity to become biotech
powerhouses. They are St. Louis, Chicago, Ann
Arbor/Detroit and Houston.
A
ban on such research in our state would threaten
thousands of existing and potential jobs and
billions of dollars in investments and tax
revenues generated by research here.
Approximately 390 plant- and life-sciences
companies in the St. Louis region employ a total
of 22,000 employees and generate more than $10.5
billion in direct and indirect annual economic
impact. Should SCNT research become a criminal
act, this economic opportunity will bypass
Missouri for the other cities mentioned above,
or to such states as California, where voters
approved a stunning $3 billion tax program to
fund biotech research.
Beyond the potential
economic loss, we would lose the opportunity to
develop cures and treatments that might help my
family and millions of other families in the
world. In Missouri alone, according to the
Missouri Coalition for Lifesaving Cures
http://www.missouricures.com),
some 443,000 children and adults either have or
have experienced all-too-common medical
conditions that could benefit from therapies
developed through SCNT research. These include
juvenile diabetes and LADA (a similar disease
that develops in adults), Parkinson's disease,
spinal cord injuries, heart attack, stroke and
Alzheimer's.
I
was not raised in a traditional family setting.
I was raised by my grandmothers, Janet Thompson
and Lea Parker, whose names I proudly carry and
who I affectionately refer to as my mothers. I
was raised to believe that being pro-life means
that we not only cherish the lives of the
unborn, but also cherish a person's entire life.
I have taken this philosophy with me to the
Missouri Legislature.
Since 1997, I have cared for my grandmothers and
watched them deteriorate due to the debilitating
effects of diabetes. My paternal grandmother has
had her left leg amputated and now faces the
possibility of losing her right leg or right
foot. In 2000, she suffered kidney failure,
which now requires dialysis treatment three
times a week. My maternal grandmother lost her
sight in 1994 and never will see my 3-year-old
daughter or her six great-grandchildren. Due to
their ages and the toll diabetes has taken on
their health, it is not
likely that medical therapies developed through
SCNT research will be discovered in time to help
my grandmothers. It would not be too late,
however, to help people like my 32-year-old
brother or my 35-year-old best friend, who both
suffer from debilitating diseases and injuries.
In
an article published last month in The New York
Times, former Sen. Danforth wrote: "When we see
an opportunity to save our neighbor's lives
through stem cell research, we believe that it
is our duty to pursue that research and to
oppose legislation that would impede us from
doing so." When Jack Danforth, a stalwart of the
Missouri Republican Party, speaks, I believe
that Republican legislators should take heed.
If
Republicans at the state and federal levels wish
to keep their party the majority party, then we
must reflect the diversity of cultures, faiths
and ideals of America, rather than the
exclusive, singular views paraded by Republican
hard-liners. I urge my Republican colleagues, as
men and women of faith and consensus, to act in
the best interests of our constituents and not
cower before a loud radical minority within our
party.
Government must take action to allow this
technology to flourish - with rational
guidelines similar to those of the present-day
organ donor program. SCNT research has great
potential to benefit the human race. We must not
let politics destroy its life-saving potential.
E-mail:
Sherman.Parker@house.mo.gov
Sherman Thompson Parker is a Republican who
represents parts of St. Charles County in the
Missouri House of Representatives.
