stem cell translation and bioethics

Indeed, before the meeting in Washing-ton DC, these individuals held solid reason for concern. The " adult " stem cell described by Caplan and Pittenger 1,2 as a mesodermal or mesenchymal stem cell had not been widely publicized as a replacement for embryonic stem cells at all. Most hematologists, who by and large controlled the stem cell field, considered these cells to be laboratory artifacts. Rare in the marrow and of unknown function and identity, the non-adherent HSC had been clearly defined. Further, less than a month before the proclamation was announced by Bush, investigators from Johns Hopkins University announced to the Press (but not in any scientific publication) stunning results based on the very recent discovery by James A. Thomson, of the existence of human embryonic stem cells, a discovery that in its own right created a media frenzy of hyped expectations. 3 The Hopkins Investigators claimed that fetal stem cells could repair spinal cord injuries and inferred strongly that these cells held the capacity to mend a severed spine. Chris Reeves dedicated his foundation to the work of these individuals, hoping to recover from the devastating spinal cord severance he sustained from an equine accident. The two announcements, the defining of human embryonic stem cells and the inference soon thereafter that embryonic stem cells could mend a severed spine led to a frenzy of scientific activity to reproduce and extend results which were universally undoubted while they led to a public frenzy. If ES cells could mend severed spines, then why not replace limbs lost in combat, cells lost in brains diseased with Alzheim-ers, Cancer or Parkinsons disease/ Chronic lung disease, and other diseases of aging would soon become illnesses of the past. Individuals who had saved for retirement all their working live only to be afflicted with a chronic and fatal disease eagerly lined up to be the first transplant recipients. Some would pay any amount for a cure and the cure certainly appeared to be well at hand. Young individuals with diabetes and other devastating diseases found new hope; they would be cured by stem cell therapy. Chris Reeves announced when seeing the Hopkins results on the evening news, " I will walk again " as tears welled up in the eyes of announcer Dan Rather. Even Mr. Rather's scientific advisor John Stossel fully bought the hype as inevitable cure all, and so stated on a …