Stem Cell Research
What Is the American Brain Coalition?
The American Brain Coalition (ABC) is a non-profit organization that brings together people with disabling brain disorders, the families of those that are affected, and the professionals that research and treat diseases of the brain. The mission of the ABC is to reduce the burden of brain disorders, and advance the understanding of the brain.
Hope for the Future: Embryonic Stem Cells
The ABC, along with over 70 percent of the American public, supports government funding for research that will ultimately benefit patients with brain disorders. This includes the continued and careful use of stem cells to produce new treatments and to aid in the discovery of new drugs for a vast array of devastating diseases.
Embryonic stem cells hold immense promise for those suffering from neurological diseases, such as Parkinson’s and spinal cord injury. These diseases, and many others, are caused by damage to a patient’s cells and tissue. Stem cells can genetically mirror the healthy cells of a living person. In other words, patients might be cured using cells created from their own DNA, avoiding the risk of immune system rejection.
Additional Stem Cells are Necessary for Effective Research
In 2001, President Bush announced his policy on stem cell research, making 78 lines available for federal funds. Currently, only 22 of those lines are now available. Additionally, these 22 lines have been contaminated with mouse cells, leaving their viability and usefulness uncertain.
Since 2001, researchers have learned more about the live-saving potential of stem cell research. However, the limitations of current U.S. policy have slowed our progress. Meanwhile, stem cell research moves forward in the United Kingdom, Singapore, Israel, Sweden, South Korea, and Australia. Current U.S. policy compromises our role as the global leader in science and technology and, ultimately, health benefits.
The ABC Opposes Human Reproductive Cloning
Along with all of the major scientific and professional medical societies, the ABC supports an immediate ban on human reproductive cloning. There is a difference, however, between stem cell research and reproductive cloning. Stem cell research is a technique that produces new cells that have the potential to become any specialized cell in the body, such as a brain cell or a heart cell. Reproductive cloning aims to recreate an entire human being.
Researchers do many kinds of cloning, and most methods are widely accepted. Accepted methods of cloning allow us to develop new drugs, catch criminals, and sequence the human genome. Stem cell research offers great promise for curing deadly diseases; it does not create people.
Recommendations
Embryonic stem cells may provide new treatments and perhaps cures for the 50 million Americans suffering from a disease or disorder of the brain. The ABC urges Congress to eliminate restrictions on federally funded embryonic stem cell research.
Approved by the American Brain Coalition July 2006.
