Korean Church to finance research on adult stem cells
Seoul (AsiaNew/Ucan) -- The Archdiocese of Seoul is planning to raise 10 billion won (US.6 million) for research on adult stem cells, as was announced on October 5 by Monsignor Nicholas Cheong Jin-suk, Archbishop of Seoul, during a meeting of the Archdiocese's Life Committee held at the Catholic Medical Centre. Monsignor Andrei Yeom Soo-jung, Auxiliary Bishop of Seoul, stressed that research for the treatment of serious illnesses can be achieved "while adhering to Church bioethical guidelines."
Father Joseph Kim Yong-tae, committee official, explained that stem cells can develop into specialized cells that form organs and other parts of the body and are being studied to treat illnesses, such as by regenerating damaged brain cells in the case of Alzheimer's disease. Often, scientists use cells taken from human embryos, but doing so involves cloning embroys and then destroying them, practices which the Church deems "immoral". Research shows the effectiveness of adult stem cells, Father Kim explains, thus it will not be necessary "to sacrifice a human life (the embryo) to save the life of a patient."
It is from this perspective that the Catholic "One Heart One Body" Movement will strive to "promote the culture of life", both by seeking a revision of the bioethics law to prevent research and experimentation using human embryos and by developing academic bases for adult stem cell research. The Committee is also planning public information and education measures and the creation of a "Mystery of Life Award" for a value of 300 million won in favour of adult stem cell research.
Alberto Oh Il-whan, director of the Cell Therapy Centre, explains that clinical tests using stem cells from patients themselves "have shown much improvement," especially for diseases of the brain, femur and spine. "Only the injection of raw adult stem cells has led to such progress, " he said. Already last June, the Catholic Medical Centre successfully treated cases of stroke and vascular illnesses through the use of adult stem cells, as recognized by the Ministry of Heath itself.
These efforts aim at becoming an alternative to the treatment proposed by Dr Hwang Woo-suk, whose research team does "made-to-measure" cloning of embryonic stem cells and receives ample public funding (last August, the University of Seoul began building a bioengineering lab for Hwang's research on the Kwanak campus, south of Seoul, at a cost of 25 billion won). In Feburary 2004, Hwang had announced that he had cloned a human embryo and extracted 11 stem cell lines from it.
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