To the Editor: Regarding your editorial in the July 17 issue,1I would like to extend my compliments and appreciation to youand your editorial staff for making the publication of stem-cellresearch a priority. My mother has been fighting Parkinson'sdisease for almost 30 years, and although upcoming researchmay do little, if anything, to help her at this point, it haslifted the spirits of our family tremendously to know that promisingresearch will get the attention it deserves and will perhapshelp others.
Lisa J. Allen, J.D. 197 Eighth St. Charlestown, MA 02129 inbox{at}lisaallen.com
References
Drazen JM. Legislative myopia on stem cells. N Engl J Med 2003;349:300-300. [Free Full Text]
To the Editor: You accuse the U.S. House of Representativesof "legislative myopia" in their vote to ban research on medicaltreatments derived from embryonic stem cells. It might be, instead,that many legislators and the people they represent are beingprudent and thoughtful in arriving at their assessment thatthis research should be banned. Both reproductive cloning andtherapeutic cloning produce a human embryo. Even at this single-cellstage, the human embryo has a human genetic code and is a livinghuman being. The therapeutic clone is then destroyed so thatits stem cells may be harvested for research.
The opposition to therapeutic cloning is not a legislative gaffebut the result of a deeply held belief in the personhood ofthe human embryo and the intrinsic value of every being of humanorigin. The goal of finding treatments for conditions that areincurable is a worthy one, but not if the means to achievingthis goal is the production, and then the destruction, of humanembryos. I hope the editors of the Journal will accept moralviews contrary to their own.
Sharon Gerardi, D.O. 2561 Pico Ave. Clovis, CA 93611
Dr. Drazen replies: The letters we have received about somatic-cellnuclear transfer exemplify the differing opinions about theethical aspects of this procedure. There is no one answer thatwill satisfy everyone. Our position is that the use of somatic-cellnuclear transfer to create embryonic stem cells for therapeuticpurposes is ethically justifiable. Thus, the editors plan tojudge research using this form of technology, as we do all research,on the basis of its quality and its ability to relieve humansuffering. Patients with serious degenerative conditions areeagerly waiting for progress; when true progress is made, wewill report it.
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