Angela Harlem
Jesus Online
"Flynn McDermott estimates that in the 22 years since she developed
juvenile diabetes as a 14-month-old toddler, she has given herself
35,000 finger pricks and injections of insulin - up to eight of them a
day.
Living with the disease, which can lead to blindness, heart disease and
kidney failure, "is expensive, time-consuming and frightening," she
says.
Despite rigorous attention to diet, exercise and blood sugar control,
she has already had to be treated for a complication that causes the
blood vessels of her eyes to leak, and can lead to blindness.
Ms McDermott, a high school teacher, is cynical about medical
breakthroughs. "I distinctly remember being told there would be a cure
for diabetes by the time I was 18."
But now she believes researchers are onto something big. Yesterday she
challenged the country's politicians to "make a difference" to the lives
of the 100,000 babies, children and young people with juvenile diabetes,
by not banning Australian scientists from working on a range of human
embryonic stem cell research.
She said it could lead to the production of insulin-producing cells to
cure diabetes, as well as other tissue to repair diabetics' damaged
eyes, hearts and kidneys. "Don't deny us this chance to live our lives
simply and well."
Australians were clever people. "We can design safeguards and protocols
to insure good research for worthwhile ends," she said.
Ms McDermott said researchers should not be banned from extracting more
stem cells from excess IVF embryos that were destined to be discarded.
This harvesting would be carried out on frozen embryos at the five- to
six-day stage, when they were smaller than a fullstop.
She said she appreciated that a small minority of people believed these
unwanted embryos had a right to life. "But I would challenge them and
say, what about my right to life?"
Ms McDermott was backing a call by the Juvenile Diabetes Research
Foundation for state and federal governments to implement the
recommendations of a two-year inquiry into stem cells.
The inquiry decided by a six-to-four majority to give the go-ahead to
harvesting of stem cells from surplus IVF embryos, but federal cabinet
is favouring a proposal to overturn this recommendation and support a
ban on embryo harvesting.
Sally Shepherd, whose 12-year-old son, James, developed diabetes when he
was five, said she would love a cure for her child to be developed.
"If these are embryos that are spare, why not use them?"
She said she also supported the foundation's call for therapeutic
cloning not to be banned.
In this scenario, cells from a patient would be cloned to form an embryo
to enable the perfectly matched stem cells to be collected and used for
treatments."
Do you agree or disagree?
------------------
"I think, therefore I um..."
juvenile diabetes as a 14-month-old toddler, she has given herself
35,000 finger pricks and injections of insulin - up to eight of them a
day.
Living with the disease, which can lead to blindness, heart disease and
kidney failure, "is expensive, time-consuming and frightening," she
says.
Despite rigorous attention to diet, exercise and blood sugar control,
she has already had to be treated for a complication that causes the
blood vessels of her eyes to leak, and can lead to blindness.
Ms McDermott, a high school teacher, is cynical about medical
breakthroughs. "I distinctly remember being told there would be a cure
for diabetes by the time I was 18."
But now she believes researchers are onto something big. Yesterday she
challenged the country's politicians to "make a difference" to the lives
of the 100,000 babies, children and young people with juvenile diabetes,
by not banning Australian scientists from working on a range of human
embryonic stem cell research.
She said it could lead to the production of insulin-producing cells to
cure diabetes, as well as other tissue to repair diabetics' damaged
eyes, hearts and kidneys. "Don't deny us this chance to live our lives
simply and well."
Australians were clever people. "We can design safeguards and protocols
to insure good research for worthwhile ends," she said.
Ms McDermott said researchers should not be banned from extracting more
stem cells from excess IVF embryos that were destined to be discarded.
This harvesting would be carried out on frozen embryos at the five- to
six-day stage, when they were smaller than a fullstop.
She said she appreciated that a small minority of people believed these
unwanted embryos had a right to life. "But I would challenge them and
say, what about my right to life?"
Ms McDermott was backing a call by the Juvenile Diabetes Research
Foundation for state and federal governments to implement the
recommendations of a two-year inquiry into stem cells.
The inquiry decided by a six-to-four majority to give the go-ahead to
harvesting of stem cells from surplus IVF embryos, but federal cabinet
is favouring a proposal to overturn this recommendation and support a
ban on embryo harvesting.
Sally Shepherd, whose 12-year-old son, James, developed diabetes when he
was five, said she would love a cure for her child to be developed.
"If these are embryos that are spare, why not use them?"
She said she also supported the foundation's call for therapeutic
cloning not to be banned.
In this scenario, cells from a patient would be cloned to form an embryo
to enable the perfectly matched stem cells to be collected and used for
treatments."
Do you agree or disagree?
------------------
"I think, therefore I um..."
