Kristin’s Playground

According to my preliminary observations, the current 24-hour period is Talk Like a Physicist Day! The day coincides with the anniversary of the birth of one Albert Einstein, as well as the day on which we celebrate the transcental number π. Under the assumption that I am not a physicist, it would be necessary to use a perturbative approach to alter my speech patterns to more closely match that of other physicists. However, that assumption is only valid for cryogenic temperatures, and it breaks down under typical laboratory conditions.

On a side note, the ambient temperature lately has been orders of magnitude warmer (on an arbitrary temperature scale), and the average amount of solar radiation penetrating the atmosphere to reach the surface has increased in statiscally significant quantities. These effects jointly combine to improve the author’s temperment. Of course, the data could be compromised by the increased concentrations of caffeine in the author’s bloodstream. This effect, however, is beyond the scope of this blog entry and will be discussed in future work.

I just watched the premeire of Life is for the Living, a documentary about embryonic stem cells and the hope they could provide for people with debilitating diseases. It featured individuals and families affected by juvenile diabetes, Parkinson’s, and spinal cord injuries, as well as discussion of the science and the politics surrounding the issue. It was quite emotional and powerful to see people’s lives devastated by these diseases: young girls learning how to repeatedly prick their fingers to check their blood sugar, people whose lives were changed in an instant from a spinal cord injury, people slowly losing control over their bodies because of Parkinson’s.

The documentary discusses the basic science of embryonic stem cells - just what exactly makes them so powerful. They also discuss stem cells derived from umbilical cord blood and adult stem cells. While these latter types of stem cells are useful in their own right, neither of them have the potential of the embryonic cells, which can become any type of cell. The film points out that embryos that would be used for stem cell research are embryos that would otherwise be discarded, for instance, those embryos that are left over from in vitro fertilization treatments or are unfit for implantation. Advocates of embryonic stem cell research do not promote the creation of embryos solely for research; rather, they fight for federal funding for research on embryos donated for medical research by couples who have completed IVF treatment and no longer wish to keep the excess embryos.

The federal government currently allows federal funding on 21 embryonic stem cell lines - those that were created before August 9, 2001. These cells will never be able to be used for human treatment, however, as they became contaminated with animal cells during the cell-growth process. Public support for embryonic stem cells is high, and Congress has passed (more than once, in fact) bills that would expand federal funding for embryonic stem cells. Unfortunately, these bills have been consistently vetoed by President Bush, and the bills do not enough congressional support needed to override the vetos. The next president will hopefully understand these issues well enough to realize the potential that embryonic stem cells hold, but in the meantime, we will continue to waste valuable time, and our research will be years behind.

The film was engaging, urgent, sad and yet hopeful all at once. There is much work to be done in the area, and the sooner we allow it to continue, the better. Michael Rubyan, the film’s creator hopes to bring it to more theaters across the country, and I hope he does. Currently, the only other scheduled showing is in East Lansing, MI, but there are already requests for it in nearby states, so keep an eye out for it.