News
February 11, 2008
 |
Frankie
L. Trull is president of the Foundation for Biomedical
Research in Washington, D.C. |
(The following editorial appeared in The
Capital Times, Madison, Wisconsin February 9, 2008)
Rats,
Mice are Key Players
in Cutting-Edge Research
Parents often express the desire to give their
children more opportunity than they had themselves. Higher-quality
education. Better careers. Longer lives. If we are seriously
committed to providing the next generation with the tools
for progress, should we not also continue to make the scientific
advances that will allow our children to lead longer, healthier
lives?
Medical breakthroughs occurring right now through
laboratory animal research will undoubtedly enhance our children's
lives. The pulse of medical research is beating rapidly, developing
cures and treatments for future generations.
One recently reported scientific breakthrough
at the University of Minnesota is the creation of a beating
rat heart. After combining the natural framework of an expired
heart with cells from another rat, Dr. Doris Taylor and her
colleagues watched in appreciation as a new heart of the same
dimensions took shape in a bioreactor and began to beat.
Stem cells have already demonstrated the power
of spawning various parts of organs. Now researchers are wondering
if stem cells can build entire viable organs. This work, once
relegated to science fiction, has quickly evolved into an
incredible, life-altering possibility. What if this capability
isn't exclusive to rat hearts and holds true for other kinds
of organs, and in other species? Then it represents a new
source of hope for the many people waiting for a miracle transplant
that could save their lives. Since organs made in the laboratory
would be generated using a patient's own stem cells, chances
of rejection would be greatly diminished.
This exciting line of inquiry must be proven
and duplicated and stand the test of time. But positive results
mean future generations would enjoy easier access to lifesaving
transplants of hearts, lungs, kidneys, pancreases and other
essential organs. Our children would have both quality and
quantity of life.
Another burgeoning area of medical promise
is how genetic composition affects susceptibility to conditions
such as diabetes, Alzheimer's and osteoporosis. Dr. Vivek
Rangnekar's inspiring work at the University of Kentucky makes
a considerable advance against one of the foremost threats
to health today: cancer. He and his team of scientists have
identified a gene in mice that kills off cancerous cells without
harming healthy cells. Mice born with this particular gene
are resistant to cancer, even its most aggressive strains.
Because the gene can be inserted into mice
that aren't born with it, scientists are exploring this powerful
cancer-fighting gene to learn if it can be inserted into humans
who lack it. Should this ultimately prove true, it would give
future generations a revolutionary way of fighting aggressive
forms of cancer - perhaps preventing them from taking hold
of the body in the first place.
Rats and mice are key players in the important
research projects mentioned above and countless others. We
can envision a world with ample reserves of organs to replace
those that fail. Can we find a world in which combating cancer
is painless and surefire? With history as a guide, currently
unsolved diseases may someday be added to the growing list
of devastating conditions that have been virtually eradicated
- alongside polio, smallpox and diphtheria.
But one of the major obstacles to future medical
advances is animal rights extremists, who are becoming the
flat-worlders of the modern science movement. Because they
oppose all animal research for all reasons, they are a serious
roadblock to medical progress. If we are truly passionate
about our children having a better future, are we willing
to compromise the promise of improved treatments and cures
achieved through humane and responsible animal research? Are
we willing to sacrifice the prospect of eradicating disease
in the name of animal rights extremism?
As the future horizon of science and medicine
comes into focus, should we allow the myopic vision of a few
flat-world extremists to force the planet to forgo medical
discovery?
I hope not.
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