New York City Atheists

How Stem Cells Can Make ‘Regenerative’ Medicine a Reality Is Religion Holding Back Cures for Diabetes, Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s Through Its Vociferous Objection to Stem Cell Research? Though President Obama has lifted many of the bans on stem cell research done by federally supported laboratories, the U.S. has fallen behind such scientifically advanced countries as Japan, England and Singapore in the emerging field of “regenerative medicine,” says Professor J. Peter Gergen, Director of the Center for Developmental Genetics at Stony Brook University. In regenerative medicine, which focuses mainly on stem cell cures, this means that the exciting research and jobs are migrating to places like Singapore, which has built a whole new scientific infrastructure. Yet stem cell research, undoubtedly the hottest topic in medical research today, holds great promise for many diseases and conditions such as diabetes, Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s and even heart attacks, Dr. Gergen will explain to New York City Atheists Inc. at its February 14 brunch at the Press Box pub. Stem Cells Rebuilding Hearts “There is now a clinical trial going on at Stony Brook to treat heart attack victims with stem cells,” says Dr. Gergen, who is also a professor in the Stony Brook Department of Biochemistry and Cell Biology. “After a heart attack, the damaged tissues—scars and dead cells—don't have many stem cells, so they can’t rebuild the tissue. The trial at Stony Brook involves injecting the patient who has just suffered a heart attack with cells to rebuild the tissue. A more long term plan, if this approach works, will be to engineer stem cells so they can recognize scar tissue. So, rather than getting an artificial valve, you are letting biology fix things. ” Scientists already know they can treat diabetes with stem cells—in mice. The trick is to transfer the stem cell treatment to humans. Scientists are also vocal proponents for stem cell research for two neurodegenerative diseases—Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s. Getting Around the Ethics Puzzle So, what’s delaying progress? “America, which has been a leader in science, lost some time in previous administrations, though we’ve recently come back a little more toward the center,” the professor says. But sometimes so-called “ethical considerations” become a challenge to the scientists because many religions disapprove of what they deem the loss of “life” with the use of human stem cells. When scientists use embryonic stem cells, which come from about day five in human embryonic development, the embryo is destroyed as the cells are removed. So religious people say, here is an organism that has the potential to give rise to a human being that you have destroyed. "But that embryo is not capable of developing on its own. If it’s not implanted in the womb, it will be destroyed by the medical laboratory that harvested it,” the professor notes. “We are now figuring out how to get around ethical issues,” Dr. Gergen adds. “The research that’s gone on in the last two years has revolutionized the field. All the ethical issues are going to disappear because scientists have found out how to make stem cells starting with cells from adults.” This means, he explains, scientists can now take some cells from an adult and treat them in such a way that they get reprogrammed to go back to the beginning of development and those cells can do anything that embryonic stem cells can do. Lagging Science Education in U.S. But the ongoing danger for America lies in our lagging science education system, the professor notes. “America is nowhere in the top tier of science education in the world in terms of dollars spent per capita,” he notes. “We are not even in the top 10. Iceland, Israel,Germany, Japan, Singapore, Sweden and even South Korea are ahead of us. We are pulled down in America by the so-called red states, and that in turn is going to cut down on future research and research jobs. The jobs will be in Singapore.” Dr. Gergen is a graduate of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and earned his Ph.D. at Brandeis University. He did his post-doctoral (“post-doc”) work at Princetonunder a Nobel prize winner in developmental genetics, Eric Wieschaus, famous for his work on fruit flies. So, what is going to happen to scientific research in this country? Will it be able to evade the religionists to pursue advanced stem cell research? Can we overcome the red-state lag in science education? Come on Sunday, February 14, to hear Stony Brook’s engaging, down-to-earth, straight-talking Dr. Peter Gergen tell us about the challenges of stem cell research in an excitingly changing scientific world. EVENT SUMMARY WHAT: “The Fascinating Emerging Field of Regenerative Medicine and How Stem Cell Research Has Accelerated It,” a talk with slides by Dr. J. Peter Gergen, professor of Biochemistry and Cell Biology and Director of the Center for Developmental Genetics at Stony Brook University. WHEN: February 14, 2010 at 12 noon WHERE: The Press Box Restaurant and Pub 932 Second Avenue (bet. 49th & 50th) 2nd Floor COST: Brunch is $20, which includes a selection of Buffet entrees and salad, one soft drink, coffee, tax and tip. Going back for seconds on the delicious Eggs Benedict is part of the adventure.