Stem cells have cured an HIV+ patient

[TragicHero84]

DAMN IT!
Why is it that the thing with most practical use on the planet has to be the least ethical.

If I was god I'd make hot-wings the equivalent of stem cells.

Probably the same reason cheeseburgers and cake make you fat while celery and brown rice are good for you. The world just ISN'T FAIR!!!

 

[TaboriHK]

This is just another reason why I can't understand why people get all pissy over stem cell research.

Not people. INSANE Religious people. Big difference.

Fixed that for you. The people protesting are normally mentally unstable. Associating them with religion would be an insult to religion. No one should be associated with insane people.

I know quite a few non-crazy religious people who are against it. If it was a crazy fringe group, they wouldn't have such a political blockade.

 

[TaboriHK]

You're nitpicking a legitimate distinction while pointing out the smallest minority group this country could ever possibly have as if they somehow make the picture more complicated. Yes, there are 45 people out 360 million who don't believe in God OR stem cell research. What's your point?

My point is that not just religious people can be against stem cell research. Yes, you can call it nitpicking, but that's not what I was doing. I was only pointing out that not only crazy religious people can be against this.

Just regular crazy people can too.

Right, but one is a large body that can legitimately affect policy in this country, and the other can fit in one high school classroom.

 

[crudus]

Wow, this sounds like a one in a million shot but it is still amazing O_O

This is just another reason why I can't understand why people get all pissy over stem cell research.

I'd like to see those anti stem cell research groups refute this now.

Probably something like "This is a rare case" or "God did it, not man".

 

[Tdc2182]

Not people. Religious people. Big difference.

Ah yes, because they're not real people

Even non religious people get angry over stem cell research. Usually because they only listen to the majority who don't like it and they won't do any research of their own on the subject, but still, it's not just crazy fundamentalists who do it.

No. 'People' is everyone. 'Religious people' are people with an agenda that is related to old thinking. The people against stem cell research are either uninformed or biased (or both), but the vast majority of them are religious.

Yes, and so is the vast majority of just... people. Most people are religious (if only be a few percent) and therefor, the majority are biased against stem cell research like this.

There are still non religious people who are against the idea of using stem cells, and while there are few of them, they do still exist.

You're nitpicking a legitimate distinction while pointing out the smallest minority group this country could ever possibly have as if they somehow make the picture more complicated. Yes, there are 45 people out 360 million who don't believe in God OR stem cell research. What's your point?

I think he is politely telling you to shut up, and to not pick a religious flame fight over this topic.

 

[UnwishedGunz]

i dont think you can call anything science related a "miracle"

until i get HIV i dont think ill care too much

 

[Tenderflake]

Regardless of the debate on research ethics here, I'm wondering about what the effects of lacking CCR5 co-receptors are. They obviously serve a purpose other than to act as a gateway for the HIV virus to infect a cell, and I think we should have a better idea of what their function is before we jump to any conclusions.

Not to be a doomsayer or anything.

 

[me.vicky]

This is just another reason why I can't understand why people get all pissy over stem cell research.

Not people. Religious people. Big difference.

Hi, nice to meet you, I'm a religious people. I am also in support of stem cell research. So if you could pick up your sweeping generalization and use it somewhere else, that'd be great. Sorry to bug you.

 

[TaboriHK]

I think he is politely telling you to shut up, and to not pick a religious flame fight over this topic.

Too bad. It's a legitimate point. It's not religion flaming.

 

[TaboriHK]

This is just another reason why I can't understand why people get all pissy over stem cell research.

Not people. Religious people. Big difference.

Hi, nice to meet you, I'm a religious people. I am also in support of stem cell research. So if you could pick up your sweeping generalization and use it somewhere else, that'd be great. Sorry to bug you.

It's not a sweeping generalization when literally every push for stem cell research support has been blocked by religious people, including our own president at the time.

 

[TheJoojo]

This is just another reason why I can't understand why people get all pissy over stem cell research.

Not people. INSANE Religious people. Big difference.

Fixed that for you. The people protesting are normally mentally unstable. Associating them with religion would be an insult to religion. No one should be associated with insane people.

This was appreciated by a religious man.
I'm not insane (or so the voices in my head tell me).

OT: One case is not nearly enough for me to believe it's a cure. But we can certainly hope!

 

[thedoclc]

I just wonder if this is a breakthrough in HIV treatment and cures, or if it was just a case of being a miracle for this one guy.

Hit search; this thread's been done.

Miracle for one guy for the moment. He happened to just hit the genetic lottery. The main problem is tissue rejection; the stem cells would have to not only match the patient's HLA types (laymen's terms: be acceptable for transplant, and it's rare) but also have the very improbable mutation to boot.

Perhaps future technology will allow cell lines to be tailored for such transplants, or a "brute force" insertion of these genes into established or new cell lines may work, but that's going to be a ways off if it is indeed possible. For now, HAART therapy is your best bet if you can afford it, and good luck affording it if you don't live in an industrialized nation.

Wow, this sounds like a one in a million shot but it is still amazing O_O

This is just another reason why I can't understand why people get all pissy over stem cell research.

I'd like to see those anti stem cell research groups refute this now.

Probably something like "This is a rare case" or "God did it, not man".

To take up the position of Devil's advocate, the objection raised isn't "This research can bear no fruit," but "This research is immoral and therefore should not be conducted, regardless of any potential benefits." An analogy would be similar to not allowing a repeat of the infamous Tuskegee experiments. In those experiments, African Americans with syphilis were not treated and the course of the disease studied. No matter what we learned, the experiments were an abomination which should never have happened.

Some would believe experimenting on stem cells is a similar situation. I do not agree, but they are neither insane nor trying to refute that we could learn a great deal with stem cells. I'll step around arguing the ethics of the issue, but let's frame their objection correctly. They believe stem cell research is morally wrong, not unable to yield results.

 

[theNothingMan]

Wow, this sounds like a one in a million shot but it is still amazing O_O

This is just another reason why I can't understand why people get all pissy over stem cell research.

I'd like to see those anti stem cell research groups refute this now.

Probably something like "This is a rare case" or "God did it, not man".

Actually, when people say they're against stem cell research they are most often referring to embryonic stem cell research, which is where stem cells are gained through the destruction of the embryo,not stem cell research in general, and from this quate, "Doctors chose stem cells from an individual who had an unusual genetic profile: a mutation inherited from both parents that resulted in CD4 cells that lacked the CCR5 receptor.", one can infer the stem cells received where non-embryonic, perhaps received from spinal fluid of a consenting adult. Therefore those who claim to be against embryonic stem cell research would find nothing against this.

 

[Tdc2182]

I think he is politely telling you to shut up, and to not pick a religious flame fight over this topic.

Too bad. It's a legitimate point. It's not religion flaming.

Both my parents are Christian. They both believe in Stem Cell research.

My Aunt is also a Christian. She too believes in Stem Cell research. Your point is moot.

And it is Religious flaming, seeing how more than two people have already told you to quit it. Give it up, you aren't doing anything other than pissing off the community.

 

[crudus]

Actually, when people say they're against stem cell research they are most often referring to embryonic stem cell research, which is where stem cells are gained through the destruction of the embryo,not stem cell research in general, and from this quate, "Doctors chose stem cells from an individual who had an unusual genetic profile: a mutation inherited from both parents that resulted in CD4 cells that lacked the CCR5 receptor.", one can infer the stem cells received where non-embryonic, perhaps received from spinal fluid of a consenting adult. Therefore those who claim to be against embryonic stem cell research would find nothing against this.

The same people would be against birth control pills because one type kills the fertilized egg. Remember Colorado's vote to outlaw birth control pills? It wasn't to outlaw a certain type of birth control. It was to outlaw all of them.

 

[Winthrop]

This is just another reason why I can't understand why people get all pissy over stem cell research.

Not people. Religious people. Big difference.

Hi, nice to meet you, I'm a religious people. I am also in support of stem cell research. So if you could pick up your sweeping generalization and use it somewhere else, that'd be great. Sorry to bug you.

Thank you for saying this! I too am religious and in favor of stem cells (I also believe in evolution), and people often mock me for being against both of those (without asking to find out that I am in fact in favor of them) because of people who make these kinds of generalizations.

 

[RamirezDoEverything]

Stem Cell research:1
Prolife: 0

 

[TaboriHK]

I think he is politely telling you to shut up, and to not pick a religious flame fight over this topic.

Too bad. It's a legitimate point. It's not religion flaming.

Both my parents are Christian. They both believe in Stem Cell research.

My Aunt is also a Christian. She too believes in Stem Cell research. Your point is moot.

And it is Religious flaming, seeing how more than two people have already told you to quit it. Give it up, you aren't doing anything other than pissing off the community.

I can name far more than the four that have been brought up that are both, but that's irrelevant. I'm not saying all religious people are against stem cell research. I'm saying the vast majority of those against it are religious. Religious people ARE the blockade, no matter how many of your personal family members don't fit that mold. And the point of discussions is not to make people feel good, but even if it were, presuming that the entire community is enraged because a few people disagree does not make it flaming. I'm not going to change my views because someone online disagreed with them. That's not how this works.

 

[Eumersian]

I heard about this a few months ago when I was researching HIV1 resistance for my Bio class.

I personally believe that this is not only obvious, but something that we should take advantage of. I think what we're missing is a test for who carries the mutated phenotype (CCR5 deficiency) or one of the alleles. These bone marrow transplants could save lives easily. We already know that this deficiency is more common in people of Northern European descent. I think the stats are 1/10 to have the allele, and 1/100 to express it.

Let's get on this right now.

This is just another reason why I can't understand why people get all pissy over stem cell research.

I'd like to see those anti stem cell research groups refute this now.

I'm pretty sure most religious groups are against the kind of stem cell research that you have to kill fetuses for. Bone marrow contains blood stem cells. These stem cells are more specialized than the embryonic stem cells. Blood stem cells have the ability to differentiate to leukocytes, erythrocytes, or thrombocytes, is all. The kind of stem cell research you mean is way different. For this kind, no fetuses are aborted.