Left paralysed and unable to breathe without the help of a machine, Perry Cross’s life was devastated in a game of rugby 14 years ago. His search for a cure took him all over the world, crossing paths with Superman’s Christopher Reeves, and ending in a small clinic in Delhi, India.
It was in a small, twenty bed hospital that maverick scientist Dr Geeta Shroff controversially injected Mr Cross with embryonic stem cells taken from human embryos, which, Mr Cross claims, has resulted in him being able to breathe unaided for the first time since his accident.
Yet this remarkable achievement has rattled scientists around the world. Even Dr Stephen Minger, a usually ferocious supporter of embryonic stem cell research, has condemned what Dr Shroff is doing. But what’s so controversial about all this? What on earth could the problem be?
The disquiet has nothing to do with the fact that the process to obtain the embryonic stem cells involves the deliberate destruction of human embryos - a practice that is always morally wrong, even if it does hold amazing possibilities for bringing life-changing benefits to patients. No, it’s not this that’s got scientists worked up. The problem here is that Dr Shroff is conducting research in an unscientific way – she is refusing to publish how she does what she does and won’t provide any real evidence of patient outcome. You see, science is all about sharing how you do something so others can try and see if they can do it too. Dr Shroff wants to patent the technique, so she’s keeping it all under wraps.
But what she’s doing is utterly irresponsible as she’s putting peoples’ lives at risk. The simple fact is that scientists around the world won’t do these experiments in humans because it’s just too dangerous – research using animals resulted in the growth of terrible tumours (Takahashi, K., Yamanaka, S., et al. Role of Eras in promoting tumour-like properties in mouse embryonic stem cells. Nature, 2003, (243), 541-5). Strict protocols on human clinical trials mean that scientists wouldn’t get permission to do these experiments even if they wanted to, but India’s lax regulations mean Dr Shroff can do virtually anything she wants to, as long as she’s experimenting on incurable or terminally ill patients. This smacks of exploitation of the desperate who are willing to undergo the most hideous risks in order that they might improve their lot.
Yet what is so saddening about the story of Mr Cross is that despite his search the world over for a cure, he never discovered the amazing pioneering work of Dr Carlos Lima. . Working in Portugal, Dr Carlos Lima has helped many spinal cord injury patients by using their own stem cells.
taken from the lining of their nose . Adult stem cells are ethical, are safe, and are sucessful. But because his work involves unpopular adult stem cells his truly remarkable advances in science and medicine rarely get heard about. More fuss needs to be made about adult stem cell research and its well-recorded successes – treating over 70 conditions with many more human clinical trials ongoing.
The paradox here is that lawmakers and scientists, having hyped embryonic stem cell research so much, are, by their actions, denying many people treatments and cures right here, right now.