2008 Woodie Awards
Daschle headlines RFK Symposium
Erik Berg
Issue date: 4/18/05 Section: News
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Former U.S. Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle opened UMKC's 2005 RFK Symposium last Monday, stating as the keynote speaker that he believes stem cell research can support moral and religious values while giving hope to the sick.
Daschle followed the theme of the weeklong Symposium, "Bio Ethics and Stem Cell Research," in discussing policy implications of the research. The former Democratic senator from South Dakota supported expanding stem cell research while serving as Senate majority and minority leader from 1994 to 2005.
"There are two reasons for my interest in stem cell research," Daschle said. "First, I've lost friends and loved ones to diseases that may be cured by stem cell research. Second, science and public policy are inextricably linked. On the first coin [issued by the United States] was the phrase, 'Liberty: Parent of science and industry."
Though not a scientist, Daschle briefly explained that stem cells are basic building blocks from which all systems of the human body develop. They are unspecialized cells that can divide multiple times over long periods and transform into specific types of cells. Scientists hope stem cell-based research will lead to cures for ailments like ALS and Parkinson's disease.
Stem cell research uses embryonic and adult stem cells; embryonic is the more controversial of the two.
Embryonic stem cells are taken from human embryos fertilized in an in vitro fertilization clinic, and are only two or three days old. Their removal destroys the embryo.
Adult stem cells are found in the tissues of the human body. Less numerous than embryonic stem cells, adult stem cells repair or replace damaged and unhealthy cells.
"From what scientists tell me, they fear [adult stem cells] may be the proverbial old dogs without many new tricks," said Daschle.
In 2001, President George W. Bush put limits on embryonic stem cell research. Scientists only receive federal funding for their research if they use one of 78 preexisting embryonic stem cell lines. Daschle said scientists have discovered since then that two-thirds of the lines have been corrupted and are not viable, leaving about 20 pure lines for research.
Daschle followed the theme of the weeklong Symposium, "Bio Ethics and Stem Cell Research," in discussing policy implications of the research. The former Democratic senator from South Dakota supported expanding stem cell research while serving as Senate majority and minority leader from 1994 to 2005.
"There are two reasons for my interest in stem cell research," Daschle said. "First, I've lost friends and loved ones to diseases that may be cured by stem cell research. Second, science and public policy are inextricably linked. On the first coin [issued by the United States] was the phrase, 'Liberty: Parent of science and industry."
Though not a scientist, Daschle briefly explained that stem cells are basic building blocks from which all systems of the human body develop. They are unspecialized cells that can divide multiple times over long periods and transform into specific types of cells. Scientists hope stem cell-based research will lead to cures for ailments like ALS and Parkinson's disease.
Stem cell research uses embryonic and adult stem cells; embryonic is the more controversial of the two.
Embryonic stem cells are taken from human embryos fertilized in an in vitro fertilization clinic, and are only two or three days old. Their removal destroys the embryo.
Adult stem cells are found in the tissues of the human body. Less numerous than embryonic stem cells, adult stem cells repair or replace damaged and unhealthy cells.
"From what scientists tell me, they fear [adult stem cells] may be the proverbial old dogs without many new tricks," said Daschle.
In 2001, President George W. Bush put limits on embryonic stem cell research. Scientists only receive federal funding for their research if they use one of 78 preexisting embryonic stem cell lines. Daschle said scientists have discovered since then that two-thirds of the lines have been corrupted and are not viable, leaving about 20 pure lines for research.
