Dr. Dan Pepin’s Page
Dr. Dan Pepin will be dropping in to help us understand some of the more technical issues and approaches to stem cell research and therapy. He will also field questions for a monthly Q & A. Already stretched between two dioceses as a bioethics consult, we really do appreciate his assistance. If you have a stem cell question, email it in at any time or simply post a comment.
Dr. Pepin is currently a professor of Anatomy & Physiology at Edison College in Naples, FL. In addition, he is an instructor of Human Biology at North Central Michigan College in Petoskey, MI. He is the bioethics consult for the dioces of Venice (FL) and Gaylord (MI). He speaks throughout the Midwest, Canada, and the state of Florida on bioethics issues - especially abortion and stem cell research. He has given testimony about stem cell research in Washington D.C., as well as in MI and FL.
Two recent posts written by Dr. Dan discuss the induced pluripotent stem cell breakthrough. Read here and here.
Below is an article Dr. Dan wrote to help us, as Catholics, grasp the importance of stem cell research. It was written in response to a news article promoting embryonic stem cell research in the state of Michigan.
Stem cell Research: Fact or Fiction?
The knowledge that stem cells can be obtained from multiple sources other than by the destruction of human embryos remains largely unknown. Educating the public that stem cell research can be pursued without destroying life at its earliest stage is of the utmost importance. It seems that every new study on embryonic stem cells generates an abundance of optimistic news stories confidently proclaiming that with just a little more time and a lot more money, (taxpayers money) embryonic stem cells are going to cure dozens of diseases and cure millions of sick and disabled people. Meanwhile, stories highlighting non-embryonic, or adult stem cells, are not only less prominent but often portrayed as less promising. The casual observer might reasonably assume that embryonic stem cells are the option of choice and adult stem cells are of secondary interest. I assure you, this is dead wrong.
Embryonic stem cells are being touted as the gold standard of stem cell research, the “holy grail of medicine”, because they are essentially a blank slate. They are capable, in theory, of differentiating (changing and specializing) into any cell of the 210+ tissues in the human body. Less well know is that adult stem cells are also very plastic. That is, they too have the ability to differentiate into nearly every cell of our body. They are easily obtained, are stable in lab, and readily proliferate (divide). Adult stem cells can be obtained from hair follicles, nasal mucosa, dental pulp, skin, muscle, peripheral blood and and even adipose (fat) tissue. They can be obtained from afterbirth tissues such as umbilical cord blood, placentas, and amniotic fluid. Stem cells can be harvested from cadavers up to 20 hours after death. In addition, there are many exciting sources on the horizon for obtaining non-embryonic stem cells such as “reprogramming” adult body cells to a less differentiated state, similar to embryonic stem cells.
Mr. Shaberman speaks of curing Alzheimers, Parkinsons, and spinal cord injury patients if only Michigan were to expand embryonic stem cell research and cloning. What he does not tell us is that Michigan does not prohibit research an embryos obtained from sources outside of the state. What Michigan prohibits is the creation and destruction of living embryos in an attempt to harvest their stem cells. Shaberman refers to the donation of eggs from fertility clinics for research. It appears he needs a refresher in simple, basic biology. An embryo is not an egg but rather a human being at his or her earliest stage of development, a stage we all went through. He is accurate in that stem cells obtained from the disaggregation, (ripping apart) of 7 day old embryos can never be used directly to treat anyone, but merely be used for basic research because of the problem of rejection. Do we believe that biotech companies, who readily admit this major obstacle of rejection, will stop here? Absolutely not! In an attempt to obtain stem cells that will not be rejected, human cloning will become commonplace. Due to the magnitude of eggs required for somatic cell nuclear transfer (cloning), women will be exploited. Cloning of embryos will not only turn a woman’s eggs into a commodity and endanger her reproductive autonomy, it will subject her to many potential health risks associated with Ovarian Hyper-stimulation Syndrome such as irregular menstrual cycles, vital organ damage, blood clots, and even death. Additionally, it is estimated that 50-70% of stem cells obtained from egg harvesting have some degree of genetic mutation due to the powerful chemicals injected into a woman in order to accelerate egg maturation.
In nearly thirty years of embryonic stem cell research, not one single patient has ever been successfully treated but, in many cases, has caused more harm then good. The only things that embryonic stem cells have delivered to date are rejections, production of wrong cell types, genetic mutations, tumors, and a lot of false hope. Meanwhile, adult stem cells have already successfully treated 73 different diseases and disorders, representing real, not mythological, help today for tens of thousands of sick and disabled persons. Currently, there are nearly 1300 FDA-approved clinical trials taking place with adult stem cells but not one with embryonic stem cells due to lack of success. Patients with breast cancer, testicular cancer, multiple sclerosis, Parkinson’s Disease, diabetes, leukemias, cardiac damage, spinal cord injuries, corneal damage, and bladder incontinence, to mention only a few, have already been helped with adult stem cells.
Biotech companies are closely watching “research friendly” states, while many states, including Michigan, are attempting to cash in on the multi-billion dollar biotechnology boom. Scientists are no longer pure scientists, but rather entrepreneurs. We should all be greatly disturbed with the idea of riding the backs of millions of innocent human embryos in an attempt to bolster our state’s economy. Our governor, the liberal media, and a select group of politicians and scientists are peddling empty promises that exploit desperately ill people. The rhetoric may be therapy but the reality is the potential of a tremendous financial windfall. Embryonic stem cells help patents not patients. Human life is not a commodity that can be created and destroyed in an effort to generate profits and patents.
Today, advances streaming from research laboratories are coming at us much faster than our moral attitudes can adjust. Its not so much what science is able to do, but rather what we, as a civilized and ethical society, should allow science to do. There is no need to choose between ethics and science. That is, we do not have to sell our souls in our quest to heal our bodies. Science is invaluable in our quest to heal, but science without ethics destroys the very humanity that we seek to protect. It is time for the complacency ignorance and apathy to step aside to the responsibility of knowledge and action. We must become proactive and have a voice in this stem cell debate. . To quote C.S. Lewis….”If we choose to treat ourselves as raw materials, raw materials we shall become.” Let’s direct our resources, both financial and scientific, to finding cures that we can all live with., namely adult stem cell research
Dr. Dan Pepin, Consultant on Bioethics
