Current Stem Cell Facts from In the News

May 2007

• Human embryonic stem cells were first isolated in 1998 and have been available to researchers for only the past few years. There has not been time to develop cures using embryonic stem cells, which is why scientists are excited about new research in this area.
• Scientists want to use every tool available for research to find cures and treatments includings both adult and embryonic stem cells. No one can predict with any certainty what will be the most effective in producing potentially lifesaving medical treatments.
• Amniotic derived stem cells may be a valuable new tool, however research has just begun to examine their potential. They are not a replacement for embryonic stem cells, and similar cells have been studied for years. Much more work will be required to determine exactly what these cells are and what they can do.
• Umbilical cord blood cells are a type of adult stem cells. They are only used clinically to replace blood-forming cells. There is no compelling evidence that these cells could ever be used to replace cells in other tissues. These cells are not an alternative to embryonic stem cells, which can replace any cell type in the body.
• The idea that adult stem cells can do the same things as embryonic stem cells is not true. For example, the Director of the National Institutes of Health, Dr. Elias Zerhouni recently testified before congress:
• "It is clear today that American science will be better served and the nation would be better served if we let our scientists have access to more cell lines. I think it is important for us not to fight with one hand tied behind our back here...It is in the best interest of our scientists, our science, our country that we find ways, that the nation finds a way, to allow the science to go full speed on both adult and embryonic stem cell research." Testimony of Dr. Elias Zerhouni, Director of the National Institutes of Health, before the U.S. Senate on Monday, March 19, 2007
• In Michigan, it is illegal to destroy human embryos for the purpose of research, but the embryos that would be used for this research are routinely discarded. Under federal law, and in almost all other states, embryos that would otherwise be discarded can be used for medical research with the consent of the donors.
• Michigan laws do not protect a single embryo from destruction, they only delay medical research.
• Embryos already legally discarded by fertility clinics, either because they are not healthy and could never be used for fertility treatment or because they are no longer needed for fertility treatment and donors elect to discard them.
• Michigan has some of the most restrictive laws in the country, far tighter than federal laws and equaled in the United States only by South Dakota's.
• A growing list of states, including California, Massachusetts, Illinois, New Jersey, Maryland and Connecticut, have decided that embryonic stem cells are so important to their citizens they are using state taxpayer money to fund research that would be punished by imprisonment in Michigan.
• There is near universal agreement among respected scientists and patient advocacy groups that current restrictions should be relaxed.
• Former Senate majority leader Bill Frist, a doctor from Tennessee, Sen. Orrin Hatch of Utah, and Rep. Joe Schwarz, a Michigan doctor, have all described embryonic stem cell research as the pro-life position. Legislation to further loosen federal restrictions passed the U.S. House and Senate with overwhelming bipartisan majorities.
• In Michigan, bills by state Rep. Andy Meisner and state Senator Gretchen Whitmer would bring Michigan's laws into line with federal law and those of other states.
• National Institutes of Health Director Elias Zerhouni testified on March 19, 2007 in the Senate his support for lifting restrictions on federal funding for human embryonic stem cell research. Federal funding for embryonic stem cell research is allowed only for research using embryonic stem cell lines created on or before Aug. 9, 2001, under a policy announced by President Bush on that date. The House and Senate have repeated voted overwhelmingly to pass the Stem Cell Research Enhancement Act of 2007 (HR 3, S 5), which would allow federal funding for research using embryonic stem cells, irrespective of when they were derived. The President has vetoed this bill.