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giedosst t1_j9b0q79 wrote

Too bad a handul of billionares convinced a small but powerful voting block of morons that stem cells = killing babies.

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Whatapeasantsurprise t1_j9b9qzn wrote

This is actually a different type of stem cell altogether. It’s only the type that matures to become white blood cells, can be your own or from a donor. It’s a treatment that comes after extremely intensive chemotherapy for people with cancer when there are no other options.

Source: it’s mentioned in the article but I also just finished this treatment last week. It’s a living hell to go through.

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Tiny_Rat t1_j9b9yme wrote

That's embryonic stem cells, while this man received a bone marrow stem cell transplant. Bone marrow stam cells come from adult donors or (if the patient is a child) from umbilical cord blood.

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giedosst t1_j9bbyb1 wrote

Very true, but remember you're citing fact and nuance, two things that have nothing to do with the "Pro-Life" movement.

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Tiny_Rat t1_j9berwd wrote

Look, I'm a stem cell researcher, I'm doing my PhD in this, so I'm fairly familiar with the backlash against embryonic stem cell research. Bone marrow stem cells really aren't part of the controversy, and haven't been at any point. Some of the research into bone marrow stem cells has received criticism because it sometimes does use fetal tissues, but that's again separate from bone marrow stem cell donation and use for medical purposes.

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giedosst t1_j9bhv63 wrote

I'm not disagreeing or arguing with anything you're adding to this conversation.

All I'm saying is that the idea of stem cell research has been rolled into the wedge issue of abortion as a way of our corporate overlords to divide and conquer us.

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Tiny_Rat t1_j9bu799 wrote

Oh, yeah, it's a stupid issue. Especially the idea that throwing those embryonic/fetal tissues in the trash (which is where they end up after abortions or fertility treatments, nobody is burying them in a graveyard or something) is somehow more moral than using them in research that could actually save lives. That one especially ticks me off. It is important to keep an open discussion on medical ethics, of course, and to keep researchers accountable for following best practices, but the forced-birth people really take it to an extreme that helps nobody, and does real and lasting damage on many fronts.

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nitrohigito t1_j9b45cr wrote

what now?

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[deleted] t1_j9b5cbu wrote

[deleted]

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nitrohigito t1_j9dain5 wrote

I guess this is some heated political stuff I missed? But like holy shit dude, chill out...

Edit: ah, it's about the suppression of stem cell research over religiously rooted arguments. Guessing this is US politics, republicans?

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DigStock t1_j9dhgh8 wrote

Stem cells therapy can also mutate cells into cancerous ones on the patient, its a bit playing Russian roulette.

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