Two workers make openings in chicken eggs in preparation for production of measles vaccine.
Two bills have recently been introduced in the Wisconsin Legislature to provide a path forward for biomedical research that honors the dignity of the human beings that it is meant to serve. These are the Fetal Remains Respect Act and the Unborn Child Disposition and Anatomical Gift Act, part of the Heal Without Harm Legislative Initiative. Contrary to what some claim, these bills do not stifle research. As scientists, we wholeheartedly support this initiative to support and advocate for biomedical research that benefits all human persons, without sacrificing one for another.
These bills come on the heels of a yearlong investigation of the abortion industry by the U.S. House Select Investigative Panel. The final report corrects many false and misleading statements regarding the role of fetal tissue in science and medicine. In nearly 100 years of unrestricted research, the panel investigation confirms, “not a single clinical treatment has been developed from human fetal tissue.” Vaccines for polio, measles, and mumps were never produced using human fetal tissue but rather used monkey cells, chicken eggs, and nonfetal human cells. None of the 75 vaccines available in the U.S. is produced using fresh fetal tissue. The continued use of certain “cell lines” derived from aborted fetal tissue to produce a small portion of vaccines (less than 15 percent) is due more to the high cost of switching than to any scientific reason. In regard to development of new vaccines, greater than 98 percent of research articles published on Zika do not use fetal tissue. Conversely, adult blood cells recently led to a breakthrough in vaccine development for Cytomegalovirus (CMV), a virus affecting brain development in a way similar to Zika.
Children who attend Catholic schools in the Madison Catholic Diocese will no longer be taking field trips to the Wisconsin Institutes for Discovery because the facility on the UW-Madison campus conducts research using embryonic stem cells.
The diocese announced its decision in a letter Thursday to principals and priests, saying the research runs counter to Catholic teaching on the sacredness of human life.
“Catholic schools in the Diocese of Madison may no longer participate in any activities, workshops or field trips at the Wisconsin Institutes for Discovery,” wrote Michael Lancaster, superintendent of Catholic schools. “Any plans to do so should be halted immediately, and alternative, morally acceptable means of meeting the educational objectives should be utilized.”
The decision, approved by Bishop Robert Morlino, affects about 7,400 children at 44 schools in 11 counties, Lancaster said. However, only a handful of Catholic schools had been taking students to the facility, he said.
Below is a debate between Scott Walker and Tom Barrett from October 15, 2010, during the 2010 race for governor. The debate was held at Marquette University and moderated by Mike Gousha, a Milwaukee-area news anchor.
It's interesting to re-watch; you can see how some of the issues played out -- stabilizing property taxes, education funding as a sacred cow, cutting taxes for small business owners to encourage growth, government employees contributing to their pensions, and so on. It's a civil debate, but gosh, I hate politics like this. And Barrett is annoying as all get-out.
Below the debate is queued to 59:50 for the question about funding/encouraging stem cell research at UW-Madison. In response to the question, Barrett states:
I support stem cell research. I support embryonic stem cell research. That's where the difference lies [you got that right!] I believe that this research is breathtaking in its potential. I was in Madison recently, and I was at the Weisman Center, and I met a woman who's doing research on chromosomal damage to infants, maybe it's before they're even born. And the impact it has on learning, particularly for the boys. And I listened to this woman, and I thought two things. I thought, This woman is a lot smarter than I am; and second, I thought, this woman is doing the Lord's work. She's using these embryonic stem cells and she's gonna improve the quality of life for these kids.
He continues but you get the point. [And the audience looks really angry at this point, LOL!]
Barrett, a practicing Catholic, refers to embryonic stem cell research as "the Lord's work."
From Pro-Life Wisconsin: Madison Area Technical College — aka MATC — has become the first two-year college in the nation to offer an embryonic stem cell research program. Press release here [PDF]. News story here.
To understand how big a blow to the embryonic stem cell industry this was, you first must know it was Geron that funded the University of Wisconsin Madison’s original research back in 1995, which resulted in the first cultures of embryonic stem cells. It was Geron that started this whole mess.
Geron went on to comprise one-third of the triune that controlled which company or university got access to embryonic stem cell lines, along with the Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation and the National Institutes of Health.
Interesting that a taxpayer-funded college picked up where a for-profit company left off… There is always work to be done with taxpayer funding, apparently.
Sacrificing people in the name of science has been and always will be gravely immoral. Whether it occurs at UW-Madison or MATC, directly or indirectly participating in embryo-destructive research is unethical and must be prohibited. As the state of Wisconsin nurtures the ever advancing bioscience industry, it must ensure that our publicly funded academic institutions adhere to the highest ethical standards.
The pro-life community is pro-stem cell research. We want to see research progress toward the treatment of debilitating diseases, but not by killing human beings in order to potentially save them. Ethical and effective adult stem cell research is a life-saving alternative that has experienced documented clinical success over a wide range of health conditions including breast cancer, stroke, and spinal cord injury. It is this life-affirming scientific technique that should be celebrated and funded.
Reposting this from Jill Stanek's blog because of the implications and ties to UW-Madison, the Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation, etc.
Out of nowhere Geron Corporation announced last week it was not only halting the first clinical trial of embryonic stem cell treatment on humans but getting out of the embryonic stem cell business altogether.
To understand how big a blow to the embryonic stem cell industry this was, you first must know it was Geron that funded the University of Wisconsin Madison’s original research back in 1995, which resulted in the first cultures of embryonic stem cells. It was Geron that started this whole mess.
Geron went on to comprise one-third of the triune that controlled which company or university got access to embryonic stem cell lines, along with the Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation and the National Institutes of Health.
Former Wisconsin Gov. and Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy Thompson took part in an international conference at the Vatican on Wednesday aimed at building support for adult stem cell research. He urged President Obama to take the lead in promoting adult stem cell research, according to a report by The Hill's Healthwatch blog.
Also, the Washington Post reports that the Vatican has entered into an unusual partnership with a small biotech company in New York to promote the use of adult stem cells for treating disease.
DATE: April 27, 2011 LOCATION: BioPharmaceutical Technology Center, Madison, WI COORDINATORS: University of Wisconsin Stem Cell & Regenerative Medicine Center; BioPharmaceutical Technology Center Institute OVERVIEW: Coordinated by the University of Wisconsin Stem Cell & Regenerative Medicine Center and BTC Institute, this symposium brings together world leaders in the area of cellular reprogramming. The focus is on using intracellular or extracellular cues to manipulate gene regulation and control stem cell pluripotency and lineage-specific differentiation.
Forbes Magazine provided additional confirmation that adult stem cell research is far more successful that embryonic stem cell experimentation. In their September 3, 2001 issue, page 36, they quoted an article printed in the Wall Street Journal Europe by Richard Miniter.
"Of the 15 US biotech companies solely devoted to developing cures using stem cells, only two focus on embryos. Embryo stem cell research is at the drawing-board stage - not for lack of funds but for lack of promising research to finance. Venture capitalists have no agenda beyond making money; if they see embryo projects that are likely to bear fruit over the next five to seven years - the usual VC time horizon - they will fund them. That the market is speaking so loudly against embryo stem cell research probably explains why embryo researchers are so eager to reverse the ban on government funding."
