Klatz explains that stem cells are pluripotent cells capable of becoming any of the body's 200 cell types, and have already demonstrated the ability to regenerate damaged heart tissue, reverse diabetes in thousands of patients, and improve Parkinson's disease symptoms. Klatz emphasizes that embryonic stem cells can be produced in laboratory glassware without harming any woman or destroying any potential human life.
Klatz argues that the federal moratorium on embryonic stem cell research is driven by anti-abortion lobbying and pharmaceutical industry interests that profit from treating chronic disease rather than curing it. He notes that England, Singapore, and India are racing ahead with government-funded stem cell programs while American researchers remain restricted.
Key Moments
Why this show: Reagan, Alzheimer's and Ron Reagan's plea: Art frames the conversation by recalling President Reagan's recent death from Alzheimer's and Ron Reagan's impassioned plea for stem cell research at the Democratic convention, acknowledging the deep moral split between those who see promise and those who consider embryonic research the taking of life.
What is a stem cell? Pluripotent cells from a 5-day blastocyst: Klatz answers Art's plain-language question by defining a stem cell as a pluripotent cell containing all genetic information, traces it from fertilized ovum to a roughly 150-cell blastocyst on day 5, and lists the 200+ cell types - nerve, lung, heart, muscle, kidney, pancreas - that embryonic stem cells can become.
Inject stem cells into a damaged heart and they know what to do: Klatz tells Art that scarred heart tissue from a heart attack can be repaired by simply injecting stem cells without instructions - the cells find the damaged area, seed it, and start the repair process, a result already demonstrated in mice, lab animals and humans.
Stem cells regrow brain tissue after stroke: Klatz extends the technique to neurology, telling Art that while Alzheimer's repair is still ahead, stem cells have already been used after stroke - they migrate to the damaged brain area, regrow new brain tissue, and reconnect nerves to a meaningful extent.
Spina bifida and a mouse with a severed cord that walked again: A caller asks if the technology could help his three-year-old son with spina bifida. Klatz cites a recent mouse study in which researchers severed a mouse's spinal cord, implanted human embryonic neural stem cells, and the spine regenerated enough that the mouse moved its hind legs and maneuvered, though not perfectly.