 | Christopher Reeve |
Supporters of federally funded stem cell research should not "shrink away simply because politics has become hijacked by special interest groups," said actor and activist Christopher Reeve in a talk at the School of Medicine.
Reeve spoke on April 3 as a guest of the Yale Stem Cell Interest Group, a faculty-student group devoted to exploring issues surrounding the implications of research and therapy using stem cells. His talk on "Stem Cells and Public Policy" brought a capacity crowd to the auditorium of Yale's new biomedical and research building at 300 Congress Ave.
The actor, who was paralyzed during an equestrian competition in 1995, is an outspoken advocate of stem cell research and has addressed Congress in favor of government support of these studies.
By tapping into the power of the unspecialized cells in the human body -- what Reeve described as "cells with no identities" -- scientists hope to find cures for such conditions as Parkinson's, Alzheimer's, multiple sclerosis and more. Eventually, Reeve noted, scientists may be able to use stem cells to grow new organs to replace damaged or defective ones.
"If you need a heart transplant, you could literally grow a new heart," he said.
While the National Institutes of Health (NIH) does fund studies using adult stem cells, which are unspecialized cells found among the specialized cells in a tissue or organ, it does not support work using stem cells derived from embryos, including the excess embryos that are created in vitro at fertility clinics and then discarded. According to Reeve, "about one-third of embryos from fertility clinics are discarded" because they are not needed for reproductive purposes.
Reeve noted that pressure from religious groups has played a major role in the federal government's decision not to fund embryonic stem cell research.
"It is my belief that when matters of public policy are being debated, no religion should have a seat at the table," he said. "Yet the Catholic religion in particular has had a great deal of influence on this issue and on this administration."
While states have not bowed to the pressure from religious groups by banning fertility clinics because those facilities are "big business," said Reeve, some have banned embryonic stem cell research altogether.
Yet many scientists believe embryonic stem cells may yield quicker results than adult stem cells, he noted. Given the large number of people who may die because the research that could cure them is being thwarted, he said, "It is simply, I think, morally irresponsible not to allow research to go ahead on all fronts with very strict ethical guidelines."
Equally problematic, the actor said, is the fact that studies using cells to create body parts have been "all bunched together under the heading of human cloning. To the average person, human cloning sounds bad. That sounds like Frankenstein's work," asserted Reeve.
"What bothers me about the approach that social and religious groups have taken is they seem to have decided that science has no morality and that scientists are not moral about their research," he said. "Well, nothing could be further from the truth."
It is up to "far-seeing people, far-thinking people like the people sitting in this room, and your counterparts across the country" to ensure that stem cell research gets the support it needs, contended Reeve.
He pointed out that for a long time the federal government would not support research on AIDS. "Today the NIH spends $1.8 billion a year on AIDS research," noted Reeve.
"It took years and years before that happened; we don't have that time," he said. "And we mustn't make that mistake again."
-- By LuAnn Bishop
T H I S
Actor Christopher Reeve advocates
for stem cell research
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