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The Church opposes the investigation with “stem cells”. That is what is said. And it is true, but it is not the whole truth. For it should be added that only when, in order to obtain these cells and human embryos are used that, in the process, they are destroyed, killed. It also hides the fact that the medical data show that the results obtained from “Embryonic stem cells” are zero and even dangerous. |
| According to an article published in the newspaper “The Reason” (Madrid, 1 December), a group of elite scientists reveal that the stem cells of embryos are not safe and cause tumors, these same scientists say that only those coming from other parts of the body – adult stem cells and not from embryos – have demonstrated the ability to heal.
Currently, there are no human clinical trials with embryonic stem cells with reliable results: studies in animals show that, sooner or later, these cells can become any tissue, end up developing tumors in laboratory animals. This was assured by international and national experts at a symposium held at the Fundación Areces, in Madrid. Without renouncing the investigation of these cells, they affirm that stem cells from adult tissue are safer and some trials in patients are beginning to bear fruit. Tumors and cancer. Six weeks after the injection of embryonic stem cells in studies with laboratory mice, the result is as convincing as disappointing. “By the current medical knowledge, embryonic stem cells are not viable in the clinic,” stated Dr. Catherine Verfaillie, director of the Institute of Adult Stem Cells from the University of Minnesota (USA). Verfaillie participates in a symposium of experts, organized by the Ramón Areces Foundation in Madrid, about the possibilities of stem cells in the “regenerative medicine”. Embryonic stem cells or ES have not shown the same safety as adult stem cells which “have been injected into hundreds of mice, and we have not seen tumors produced after two years of its administration,” according to this expert. In contrast, the experiences on cells in mice show that “within six weeks of the injection tumors developed. The likelihood of developing cancer is higher if you use this type of cells. Although there is no knowledge of human trials with ES cells, the administration of adult stem cells in 40 trials in patients have developed “no tumor” to date. The cardiac surgeon Christof Stamm, of the Institute of Tissue Regenerative Therapy from the University of Rostock, in Germany, working with adult stem cells that manufacture blood vessels, whose potential is enormous to treat patients who have suffered a heart attack. In a phase II trial involving 36 patients who suffered a heart attack, a by-pass, and half were given adult stem cells to build new vessels. In the latter group, he says, the preliminary results show an improvement with respect to the “by-pass” as the only option. Other fields in which stem cells are beginning to show results relate to the healing of wounds and sutures in operations, according to Damián García Olmo, of the Department of Surgery at the Autonomous University of Madrid. “It is something that has not been resolved within the world of the surgery, only in Madrid there are more than a thousand daily operations,” he says. García Olmo and his team work in clinical trials at the La Paz Hospital in Madrid with adult stem cells extracted from human fat involved in the healing process, in particular to treat anal fistula. By transplanting, “we try to increase the amount of these adult stem cells,” he says. In the same vein it has been expressed, in statements to the Zenit Agency, Dr. Claudia Navarini, professor of the Faculty of Bioethics of the Pontifical Athenaeum Regina Apostolorum (Rome). Alluding to an editorial in the last 24 November, the Italian daily “Il Foglio”, which denounced the existence of “a strange syndrome that affects many commentators and Italian politicians when it comes to stem cells”, which consists in “pairing ritually to the news of the successes with stem cells the anathema against who is opposed to the use of embryonic stem cells,” Dr. Navarini said that this “syndrome” manifests itself usually in one of two ways: “To magnify, to each result obtained with adult stem cells, the “possible” results with the embryonic stem cells”; and “systematically ignore the adjective “adult”, leaving believe that any investigation of success with stem cells refers to the embryonic”. What is certain is that, Navarini notes, “While embryonic stem cells have not yielded results, for technical reasons and not economic, that are well known to the scientific community, the therapy with adult stem cells is a comforting reality that continues being enriched almost daily from new discoveries and new applications.” Thus, the Holy See documents to the member states of the UN. In a message sent on 27 September 2004, the Vatican says the following: “There are two potential sources of stem cells for human research: in the first place the “adult” stem cells, which are derived from the umbilical cord blood, bone marrow and other tissues, and secondly “embryonic stem cells”, which are obtained from the breakdown of human embryos. The Holy See is opposed to the donation of human embryos for the purpose of its destruction to obtain from there their stem cells, even for a noble goal, because it is incompatible with the rationale and the reason for the human biomedical research, that is, respect for the dignity of human beings. However, the Holy See applauded the research using adult stem cells, because it is completely compatible with respect for the dignity of human beings. The unexpected plasticity of adult stem cells has made it possible to successfully use this type of cell in the healing of various human tissues and organs. On the other hand, research using embryonic stem cells has been hampered by major technical difficulties. The experiments on embryonic stem cells have not produced even a single therapeutic success, even in animals. In addition, embryonic stem cells have caused tumors in animals and could lead to cancer if administered to human patients. The use of embryonic stem cells entails a high risk of introducing in patients, cells from abnormal embryos. It has been well proven that most of the non-human embryos produced by nuclear transfer cloning are abnormal. The transfer of embryonic stem cells extracted from them would be therefore extremely hazardous: these cells might provoke genetic disorders, or initiate leukaemias or other cancers.” |
