Alzheimer's Club

Excerpt: "In a recent Wall Street Journal opinion piece (registration required), Princeton's Robert P. George teamed up with Dr. Markus Grompe ? "a professor of genetics at the Oregon Health and Science University, director of the Oregon Stem Cell Center and a member of the International Society for Stem Cell Research" ? to herald the promise of an alternative to ethically challenged embryonic-stem-cell research.NRO Editor Kathryn Lopez recently asked George, a member of the President's Council on Bioethics, to talk a little about the future of stem-cell research and some of the heated rhetoric surrounding the issue. National Review Online:Last week in the New York Times, Mario Cuomo wrote "So far neither Mr. Bush nor religious believers have convinced a majority of Americans that the use of embryonic stem cells inevitably entails the murder of a human being. Most Americans, vividly aware of the millions of tragic victims of Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, cancer and spinal cord injuries, believe that embryonic stem cell research may provide cures. They will demand that Congress act to realize that potential..."

...There is another piece of reality that Cuomo is ignoring. He is imagining ? or at least encouraging others to imagine that embryo-destructive research holds the key to curing horrible diseases, such as Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, and cancer. The truth is that we do not know when, or even whether, embryonic stem cells will prove to be useful in treating any disease. Leading authorities on Alzheimer's disease, including many scientists in the field who personally favor embryonic-stem-cell research and its public funding, say that Alzheimer's will almost certainly never be treated (much less cured) by embryonic-stem-cell therapies. A recent story in the Washington Post quoted a leading Alzheimer's researcher as saying that the belief that embryonic stem cells will be used to treat Alzheimer's is a "fairy tale."We cannot say with certainty that embryonic cells will never prove therapeutically useful in treating other diseases, but as a matter of sheer fact not a single embryonic-stem=cell therapy is even in clinical trials. No one knows how to prevent tumor formation and other problems arising from the use of embryonic stem cells. No one knows whether these problems will be solved or solved before other research strategies render embryonic research obsolete. Like John Kerry, John Edwards, and Ron Reagan, Cuomo is elevating the hopes of suffering people and their families who are desperate for cures and eager to believe that if only embryonic-stem-cell research were federally funded they or their loved ones would be restored to health."

A.Koudinov note: Please note that many Alzheimer's top researchers have financial interest in defending other Alzheimer's theories. One example is amyloid theory or amyloid dogma. For the conflict by recent top AD authority, Professor Dennis Selkoe, please see my correspondence with Dr. Selkoe and recent The Wall Street Journal reports . More info on the conflict by Alzheimer's association and other AD researchers see my letter to WSJ .

Source: Scientific BreakthroughsGetting beyond stem-cell ethics obstacles. Q&A by Kathryn Jean Lopez (29 June 2005) [FullText]