News on News

News on News

Well, this is interesting, more for questions about media than for stem cell research. This morning I found a news article saying that baby teeth have stem cells in the pulp they contain. It was reported in the Nigerian paper The Tide and not in any other media sources. So I Googled the whole web, and lo and behold, the research was done two years ago and reported then. A comprehensive article was in the New Scientist in April 2003, and the NIH encouraged stem cell banking from baby teeth in June of 2005, according to a UPI article in Science Daily. Dr. Robert Lanza, the well-known stem cell researcher, thought banking was premature. The research on tooth stem cells is still minimal.

So why is a Nigerian newspaper 2 years behind the times? Is it a fundamental lack of resources? Is it because it was a state-run newspaper for years? Is it because other things besides stem cells are more important in Nigeria? Was this story “filler”? How much does this happen in other developing countries?

Roman Catholic Priests in Missouri Oppose hESC Research

Roman Catholic Priests in Missouri Oppose hESC Research

Roman Catholic priests across the state of Missouri urged parishioners to oppose embryonic stem cell research yesterday. The state-wide push is a result of the recent approval of signature gathering for a ballot initiative which would permit stem cell research. According to an AP story, one priest compared embryonic stem cell research to Nazi experiments. Missouri’s governor supports embryonic stem cell research.

The AP story is widely reported, including in the Kansas City Star, the Boston Globe, the Chicago Tribune, and the Seattle Post Intelligencer. Take your pick.

I am appalled whenever someone compares embryonic stem cell research to the Nazis. The Nazis were motivated by hate (and fear). hESC researchers are motivated by a desire to help. People who believe an embryo just past the fertilization stage (of a stage which might reasonably well be expected to be miscarried in nature) is a fully human life will not be convinced by any arguments I might make, so I will not take the time to make them. But please, let’s not bring in the Nazis. Remember them for the cruelties they did, remember them for all the people who died, don’t use them to bolster your rhetoric. That demeans the suffering of the Holocaust.