HOME | POLITICS | SPORTS | LIFE | SCI/TECH | OPEDS | HELPFUL TIPS
|
Nov. 29, 2004 There have been widespread reports that a paralyzed woman – immobile for nearly two decades – is walking again. It seems like something out of science fiction, a fantasy, a distant dream of hopeful medicine. No; it is a reality, a miracle of science, and in that scientific world America is increasingly falling behind. Achievements like this, which the United States played little if any part in, are earthquakes on the scales of science and life. Why are we not participating? South Korean doctors took stem cells from the blood of an umbilical cord and used them as the basis for helping this paralyzed woman walk once again. No fetuses were terminated, no one was harmed. It was simply a life gained, a purpose restored, and a reality shown to the world. This procedure gave new life to a woman all but destined to die as she was – paralyzed. The world of science has performed something unequaled throughout the course of history. We have let a paralyzed person walk again. Why, then, is the United States increasingly forgotten in the scientific progress of stem cells? The United States was once at the forefront of medicine and technology, research and innovation, cures and prevention. Now we have ceded that precious ground, the ground on which life-threatening ailments are cured, where suffering is diminished, in the face of a very vocal minority that cites, among other things, the irreligiousness of stem cell procedures. What is irreligious about saving a life? What is irreligious about using stem cells from the umbilical cord to ease the suffering of another human being? What is irreligious about using instead of wasting, of taking every opportunity to make the lives of our fellow men and women better? Even if we cannot perfect stem cell use in five or ten or twenty years, that is medicine. By its very practice, medicine and innovation are processes that reward patience, experimentation and time. We did not cure polio in a day, nor do we yet have a cure for AIDS. Yet we still try. The benefit of saving lives – be it one life or tens of thousands – even in the face of arguments against the procedure, is a move we must be prepared to make very soon. We cannot allow innocent people around the world to suffer and die in a state that, through exhaustive research and experimentation, could be alleviated or cured. There were some who proposed the sun revolved around the earth – it was only through hundreds of years of work that this was proven to be wrong. We stand at the same problem today. There is no death involved. Fetuses need not be used if science does not require them to be used, though it is a waste to simply throw away something that has the potential to help millions. South Korea has shown how simple it can be to extract stem cells from already existing umbilical cord, how to save lives safely. The only thing we must do is challenge our own beliefs and be willing to observe doctors who research stem cells to make sure they do nothing wrong. This is a fundamental aspect of science – monitoring. There is nothing Big Brother about it. Monitoring is perhaps the most essential part of quality control. Stem cells are nothing to be afraid of; they are simply the next step in an ever-evolving medicinal and scientific field of research. Stem cells are being realized as the future of treatment and cure throughout the world, even in places that we would never imagine. When, then, will America finally catch up? ------------ About the author: Max Burns is a 17-year-old Democrat with moderate, centrist ideals. He blames John Kerry's 2004 loss on John Kerry, and is authoring a pamphlet on how to refine the Democratic Party for Victory in 2008 and beyond. For more information, check out The New Democrat. Read the fantasy-fiction novel "Alcardia". Email: DeMBurns@gmail.com Tell a friend about this site! ------------ All articles are EXCLUSIVE to Useless-Knowledge.com and are not allowed to be posted on other websites. ARTICLE THIEVES WILL BE PROSECUTED! |
||||||
|
|
|||||||
|
