Editor,
I hesitate to write anything in regard to stem cell research, because I hold the issue so close to heart. The most common attack on stem cell research is based on morality - because I believe in and promote stem cell research, do I cease to be a moral being?
What if I said that my family and I carry Huntington's disease? Huntington's disease cannot be contracted or caught - it must be passed on through genes as a defect in the fourth chromosome.
If a person carries Huntington's disease, the disease may not be evident until about the mid-30s, but the gene has been present in the genetic coding of that individual since conception. Why should we not at least try to prevent an incurable disease? Stem cell research is necessary to eradicate such an illness. If the disease affects the embryo as well, why not begin there?
I am able to recall someone writing in protest to abortion that everyone is entitled to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. Why should I be deprived of these very same things? The research may be unable to help me, but it may be capable of helping others in the future, not just people with Huntington's disease. As I mentioned earlier, the disease may not affect many of those who have it until their mid-30s, but it has caused death as early as age 2.
At this point, the only cure is to eradicate those who carry the gene. This would deprive and rob us of our lives, our pursuit of happiness and our reproductive rights.
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Alley White
UNM student
