Ronald Reagan's death, after a long struggle with Alzheimer's disease, has awakened the nation to the need to expand human embryonic stem-cell research. Stem cells hold the promise to reverse a range of debilitating diseases, and they might also form replacement tissue to treat injuries and damaged organs. The science is controversial because extracting the cells causes embryos to be destroyed, which critics oppose as a taking of a life. But as more Republicans and Democrats are arguing, helping people who need it now is both humane and moral.
Reagan's death, coming 10 years after the former president acknowledged in an open letter that he had the disabling disease, brings into focus how long many families are forced to watch a loved one slip away. Nancy Reagan became an advocate for expanding stem-cell research after experiencing the pain that millions of families struggle with every day. Embryonic stem cells have the potential to become all cell types of the body, leading scientists to believe they could help treat an array of diseases that afflict 128-million Americans - replacing damaged neurons in a Parkinson's patient's brain, creating replacement tissue for a spinal cord injury or acting as a conduit to test new prescription drugs. Early research shows that the potential is enormous.
President Bush unveiled a policy in 2001 that authorized federal funding for research on stem cells already derived from embryos. But federal money would not pay to harvest cells from newly destroyed embryos, nor from embryos created solely for research purposes. The president said his policy balanced science without crossing a "fundamental moral line" by destroying embryos "that have at least the potential for life."
But the policy does neither. Only 19 of the 78 embryonic stem-cell lines available under the president's policy have been distributed to researchers. Critics complain that scientists cannot be attracted to the field because Bush's policy denies a stable environment for research funding. The National Institutes of Health spent less than $25-million last year in support of embryonic stem-cell research. While the NIH director, Dr. Elias Zerhouni, underscored the president's moral concerns, he conceded last month in a letter to Congress - where 58 senators and 207 House members have called on the president to relax restrictions - that it is "fair to say that from a purely scientific perspective more cell lines may well speed some areas" of research.
Meanwhile, an estimated 400,000 embryos - created in-vitro for child-bearing purposes but in excess of what couples needed - will likely be destroyed because the government will not reach out to donors for consent to give the unneeded embryos to research. Doing so would be wholly consistent with Bush's intent not to destroy an embryo that has "at least the potential for life." Researchers believe embryonic stem cells are uniquely adaptive for use in regenerative therapies. Closing the door to research contradicts the president's stated goal, by denying the potential to prolong life for millions struck down by disabling disease.
More federal involvement would promote Bush's broader moral aims, such as banning human cloning and curbing the market for creating embryos for research purposes. In the absence of governmental leadership, the private sector will continue to move ahead, both here and abroad. By expanding federal support for stem-cell research, President Bush would spark hope for millions of families and help shape the moral parameters of ever-evolving biomedicine. He would be supported by people across the political spectrum who not only want it done but want it done right.
