St. Louis one of 14 cities to air documentary about stem-cell research fight
On Jan. 14, a week from tomorrow, St. Louis’ Tivoli Theatre will offer a special 7 p.m. screening of “The Accidental Advocate.”
The documentary film is by former Dateline NBC producer Jessica Gerstle, and focuses on “the challenges her father and family face after a bicycle accident leaves him paralyzed from the neck down.”
The Tivoli is among 15 theaters in 14 cities around the country who are planning to air the documentary over several weeks. Although it features both sides of the stem-cell research debate, some advocates say in a statement that, “The timing is meant to keep the issue fresh in the minds of Americans who hope President-elect Barack Obama and others back greater federal support for stem cell research.”
The 90-minute film features appearances by such stem-cell research advocates as California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and actor Michael J. Fox, along with scientists, religious leaders on both sides and political proponents and opponents in Washington, D.C.
Right after the Tivoli’s screening, the Missouri Coalition for Lifesaving Cures and Hadassah, a Jewish civic organization, will cohost a pro-research panel discussion open to the public.
According to the coalition, the participants will include:
· Dr. Steven Teitelbaum, a researcher at Washington University in St. Louis;
· Marie Davis, executive director of the Metro St. Louis/Greater Missouri Chapter of the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation;
· Joan Denison, director of the area chapter of Hadassah; and
· Eric Westacott, a local attorney who established The Eric Westacott Foundation to raise money for spinal cord research after he was paralyzed playing softball in college.
Tickets for the screening are $10.50 each. They are available online at www.landmarktheatres.com, or at the Tivoli box office. For more information about the film, visit www.theaccidentaladvocate.com.
In November, the theater screened “The Stem Cell Divide” as part of the St. Louis International Film Festival. That film — by local directors Barbara Shuman, Jill Mogil and Sharon Pollack — dealt with the 2006 battle over Amendment 2, which narrowly passed and protects in Missouri all forms of stem-cell research allowed under federal law.
As locals may recall, actor Fox appeared in town in 2006 to promote the research as part of his stop to aid the U.S. Senate candidacy of Democrat Claire McCaskill. Fox’s visit contributed to the intertwining of the Senate race and the Amendment 2 fight, especially since then-U.S. Sen. Jim Talent opposed the amendment.
Embryonic Stem Cell research has produced NOTHING, ZERO, ZIP, NADA (except cancer).
Adult Stem Cells are currently being used in as treatment or cures in over 70 (SEVENTY!) diseases or cases.
ESC’s can now be made by sources other than embryos, so there is NO need what-so-ever to use embryos. Case CLOSED.
Government wastes enough money as it is, it simply doesnt need to flush more money down the drain of ESC.
I wish “journalists” would stop saying that anyone who is anti ESC is anti stem cell.
The naysayers also criticized Jonas Salk, who took decades to perfect the polio vaccine. I’m thankful he never gave up.
The truth is no one knows where the next breakthrough will come from. That’s why we must follow the science.
Couldn’t that logic be used to justify any research — involuntary trials on prisoners, cruel animal research, etc.?
We never know where the cure is going to come from, right? How can we give up on hope?
The fight against Amendment 2 will continue at every street corner!
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Agreed, Si Vis … I can’t think of a single person who is against stem cell research, altogether. Many people, though, are against the cloning and use of human embryos for this type of research.
“If it saves just one person” my ass!
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Below are some advances that have occurred in the past year alone — quite an accomplishment given that embryonic stem cell research has been around for only 10 years. Just imagine where we might be after 50 years, which is how long adult stem cell research has been around.
Don’t get me wrong, medical discoveries from both embryonic and adult stem cells are welcome advances. This isn’t an either/or contest.
I just don’t understand how these pessimists try to thwart this research at every turn, then claim it hasn’t helped anyone.
Blood supply
Human embryonic stem cells are used to create red blood cells, a component of blood that helps distribute oxygen throughout the body. The research, conducted by researchers from Massachusetts-based Advanced Cell Technologies, the University of Illinois-Chicago and Minnesota-based Mayo Clinic, could potentially create an endless blood supply and negate the need for blood donations (Advanced Cell Technology, Aug. 19, 2008).
Brain damage
A Stanford University study shows that neural cells created from embryonic stem cells helped repair the brains of rats damaged by stroke. The rats, which each lost partial use of a forelimb, showed improvement after they were injected with the early-stage neural cells. The cells traveled to the damaged brain section and incorporated into the surrounding tissue, working to repair damage caused by the stroke (Stanford University, Feb. 20, 2008).
Cancer
Using mouse embryonic stem cells, researchers at the National Cancer Institute develop a method to evaluate which changes in a particular gene known to increase susceptibility to breast cancer might lead to cancer. The discovery could better inform people predisposed to developing cancer, as well as carriers of other disease-related genes (National Cancer Institute, July 6, 2008).
Diabetes
Biologists at the Harvard Stem Cell Institute report they have directly reprogrammed common cells in the pancreases of living mice into special cells capable of producing insulin and fighting diabetes. The discovery, which was made possible by prior advances from embryonic stem cell research, also could lead to therapies and cures for heart disease and other afflictions in people (Harvard Stem Cell Institute, Aug. 27, 2008).
A new technique is discovered for turning embryonic stem cells into insulin-producing pancreatic tissue, which could lead to new treatments for diabetes. Scientists at the University of Manchester and the University of Sheffield in England genetically manipulated the stem cells to produce an important protein that helps increase specific types of desired cells pancreatic cells, in the case of diabetes (University of Manchester, April 3, 2008).
Researchers at Novocell, a San Diego-based biotech company, announce that for the first time embryonic stem cells can be turned into pancreatic cells capable of producing insulin in mice. The discovery someday could help people with Type 1 diabetes who require regular insulin treatment. The research builds on discoveries Novocell scientists announced in 2005 and 2006 (Novocell, Feb. 20, 2008).
Heart disease and heart damage
Scientists at Washington University in St. Louis move closer to a new generation of heart disease treatments that use human stem cells. They report that a gene they’ve been researching in mice starts the development of the cardiovascular system by locking mouse embryonic stem cells into becoming heart parts and getting them moving to the area where the heart forms. The next step is studying whether the gene can help fix damaged hearts in mice (Washington University in St. Louis, July 2, 2008).
The hearts of rats injured by heart attack are repaired using heart muscle cells derived from human embryonic stem cells. The embryonic stem cells stopped the progression of heart failure in the animals, according to scientists that oversaw the study at the University of Washington in Seattle and at Geron Corp. in Menlo Park, Calif. (University of Washington, Aug. 27, 2007).
Macular degeneration
Researchers at the University of Washington in Seattle use human embryonic stem cells to repair a macular degeneration-like disease in rats. The cells were used to create progenitor cells that, when combined with cells from a degenerated mouse retina, formed new retinal cells (University of Washington, Aug. 25, 2006).
Parkinson’s disease
Researchers at Edinburgh University in Scotland announce they are turning embryonic stem cells into a type of cell lost in Parkinson’s patients. The scientists hope to slow or reverse the debilitating disease by injecting into the patients neural cells derived from embryonic stem cells. (The Scotsman, Nov. 3, 2008).
Mice afflicted with a Parkinson’s-like disease are treated with the help of somatic cell nuclear transfer, or SCNT. It marks the first time that SCNT has been used to successfully treat a disease in the same subjects that yielded the initial cells, according to investigators at New York’s Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, where the study was conducted (Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, March 23, 2008).
Spinal cord injuries
Special nerve cells created from embryonic stem cells could help heal spinal cord injuries, researchers at the University of Colorado Denver report. The special cells, called astrocytes, regenerated nerve fibers in the injured spinal cords of mice, helping them move again. The team is working on human forms of the cell for human clinical trials someday (University of Colorado Denver, Sept. 19, 2008).
Nice post delrio… unfortunately, the ostriches will not take the time to read it.
What about the 16,000 embryo children who die every year because they lack adequate healthcare. One cytoblast my ass. Republicans can’t convince me of their passion until they stop thinking about money and CEO compensation.