By Caribbean Medical News Staff
The campaign to set up a stem cell research and treatment facility in St Kitts may spark a controversial moral debate on the subject of stem cell research.
The two main sources of stem cells are: adult tissue known as adult stem cells and embryos formed during the early development phase of embryological development, also known as embryonic stem cells.
The root of the controversy is the research involving the development, usage, destruction of human embryos and the moral nature of the process.
Peter Nygard who is the owner of Nygard International, at a press conference in St Kitts with scientists and stem cell researchers, declared plans to establish the facility, which he asserted can have significant benefits to the island. The plan is largely based on medical tourism is intended to attract wealthy individuals to the treatment centre in island, willing to invest in stem cell research and treatment in order to reverse the process of ageing.
When asked about his view on the controversy surrounding the stem cell research venture, Chief Medical Officer Dr Patrick Martin said, “Nobody is going to make the kind of investments they are making… without having that locked down; both the ethics, and linked to that the legal instruments.”
“Science is going to prove beyond a shadow of a doubt that this therapy is ethical. As a matter of fact we already do stem cells… when we give somebody chemotherapy to fight a cancer, it knocks out their bone marrow and we have to give stem cells back, so it’s not anything new… It’s just that sometimes some of the media reporting can make it sound like you’re back in the days of Adolf Hitler and his henchmen experimenting on gypsies and Jews,” said Dr Martin.
The Foundation is believed to be the leading organization for stem cell research internationally, with the ability to carry out critical monkey studies which are needed to evolve into medical applications.
