Kranz Stem Cell Article: Thune Hit Piece

David Kranz's piece in the Argus Leader yesterday looks like a classic piece of misdirection.

It discusses how the issue of stem cell research "divides" the South Dakota congressional delegation. Predictably, Johnson and Herseth Sandlin support destroying human embryos in the hopes research may someday result in a cure. Equally predictably, Thune opposes embryonic stem cell research.

So was this article intended to inform the reader about the issue of stem cell therapy...or was it intended to paint Senator John Thune as a mean, uncaring, cold, unscientific man who just doesn't care that there are people suffering out there, in need of cures that are just right around the corner, if only we could get these Bible-thumping moralists out of the way so we can use human embryos for medical research?

I suppose you have to commend the Argus for even bothering to mention that Thune supports adult stem cell research; for the Argus, I guess that qualifies as "balance." But they somehow "missed" perhaps the most pertinent and important fact about stem cell research: adult stem cell therapy has ALREADY helped people. There wasn't a single mention of that in the article.

While the Kranz piece makes it sound as if adult stem cell research only offers the hope of cures such as the claims made about embryonic stem cell research, adult stem cell research has reached the point that it's no longer just research: it's therapy that has already been used dozens of times.

It has restored vision to a blind man. A heart valve was also grown recently using adult stem cell therapy.

In fact, here is a list of successes adult stem cell therapy has ALREADY had. In case you're too afraid to look at it and see the truth, there are 72 maladies on this list. Meanwhile, the crickets are still chirping as we wait for even one success from embryonic stem cell research.

Here is another article with more detail about some of the treatments adult stem cell therapy has ALREADY provided while we wait for even one from embryonic stem cell research.

Adult stem cell therapy was also recently used to create insulin.

Let me say it again, in case I wasn't clear before: embryonic stem cell research, which destroys human embryos (i.e. human life) has yet to yield a single success. Meanwhile, adult stem cell research is ALREADY curing illnesses and injuries.

The Argus Leader piece somehow failed to point out this simple but absolutely pivotal difference in stem cell research.

Why, I wonder?