Madam, - It is unfortunate that Prof William Reville (Science Today, April 24th) claims his arguments against the use of human embryonic stem (ES) cells in research are based on biological facts.
His claim that a human life begins when a sperm cell and an egg cell unite is not scientific fact. What results from this fusion is a single human cell with new unique genetic material.
The labelling of this single cell as a new human life is based on Prof Reville's personal views that rightly deserve mention elsewhere than the science page.
The single cell has the potential to become a human life, but only if it is allowed to develop into an embryo in the mother. If the egg cell and sperm cell are united in the laboratory and not implanted, no new human life will result.
His claim that the goals of human embryonic stem cell research can probably be realised using adult stem cells is not backed up by current scientific research. The consensus view in the stem cell field is that ES cells have more potential to reverse some human diseases than adult stem cells.
His claim that human skin cells are just as useful as embryonic cells is not scientific fact. We are in the early stages of research on the exciting area of induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells, however, ES cells still have many advantages over this new technology. At the moment, it is only a hope that future iPS technologies will generate abundant supplies of new cells that can be used in treatments of human diseases.
His claim that it is a biological fact that the early embryo is a human is not correct. A two-week-old embryo is human tissue that may develop into a human, under certain conditions, but will not do so if left in liquid nitrogen following in vitro fertilisation (IVF).
In my own area of research, which is Parkinson's disease, there are approximately 7,000 Irish people who have yet to be supplied with any new therapy that reverses the disease progression. These are people, many with families, who have experienced the richness of life and wish to continue with a better quality of life.
The option of extracting stem cells from IVF-generated embryos
may seem brutal to many, but it is far more brutal not to try to
develop new therapies that will save existing lives. - Yours, etc,
GAVIN DAVEY,
Trinity College,
Dublin 2.