By Stephanie Schupska
University of
Georgia
Four times Hamilton Jordan has battled cancer. Each time he’s
diagnosed, he researches his disease and hopes for new
treatments.
The scientists, politicians and lawyers gathered on the
University of Georgia campus Monday believe some of those
treatment answers lie in stem cell research.
“Life never meant so much to me over the last few years as the
years when I’m fighting for it,” Jordan said as the former
White House chief of staff shared his cancer stories.
Stem cell research brings to mind images of lab coats and
microscopes. But Monday’s symposium brought to light the legal,
political and personal issues facing stem cell research. Lawyer
Sherry Knowles, U.S. Congressman Tom Price and Jordan came to
discuss their respective points of view.
“These are three very important topics that will really
determine how medicine will reach the public,” said Steve
Stice, a Georgia Research Alliance eminent scholar and director
of UGA’s Regenerative Bioscience Center.
Every year, UGA holds a “Human Embryonic Stem Cell Toolbox”
workshop, a five-day clinic sponsored by the National
Institutes of Health. Participants come from as far away as
Japan.
The RBC then holds the symposium to “advance public knowledge
and awareness of genetic medicine,” Stice said.
Jordan, a key figure in President Jimmy Carter’s
administration, was diagnosed with histiocytic lymphoma in 1985
after an X-ray showed a golf-ball-sized tumor in his chest.
“The doctor said it was likely cancer,” he said. As he waited
for the results of his biopsy, “my wife, mom and sister took
turns crying for three days as I lay there.”
After he was diagnosed, Jordan “went into a funk. I was scared
to death. I kind of cut myself off from my family.”
Then a doctor friend from UGA dropped by for a visit at the
hospital and asked him: “Who is going to have a greater
decision in your life than yourself?”
That night, Jordan went down to the hospital’s library and
started learning about his cancer.
The personal side plays a huge role in the research. But
researchers must also keep in mind the legal aspects of stem
cells.
As a partner at King and Spalding, Knowles focuses heavily on
protecting biotechnology patent portfolios. “You can do all the
research you want, but if you’re blocked by patents, you’ll get
nowhere,” she told the scientists. “I help get companies and
universities through the patent thicket.”
As of June 2005, 1,400 patents covered the various aspects of
stem cell research. That makes it all the more important for
scientists to investigate what has been patented and to get the
proper licenses before proceeding with studies.
Although Rep. Tom Price (R-Ga.) is an orthopedic surgeon and
third-generation physician, “I’m here to give you opinion,” he
said. He believes that stem cells, whether embryonic or adult,
hold great promise for many diseases and many illnesses. Then
he went on to explain the political dilemma.
“Politicians like unanimity,” he said. “We don’t like
controversy. … We try to help people and make people
happy.”
And stem cell research, especially embryonic research, is
controversial. “With adult and cord cell research, you get into
the whole area of political demagoguery,” Price
said. “Oftentimes it seems in embryonic stem cells that the
secret to so many diseases is just months away. This does a
disservice to the public, science and those suffering from
diseases.”
Plus, “the government is not nimble,” he said. “You can’t get
us to move in such a way that responds quickly to issues.”
He asked the scientists to educate their politicians, to invite
them into the lab and explain their research.
It helps to add a personal view to something as tiny as
cells.
“I look at every day differently than before I had these
experiences,” Jordan said of his battles with cancer. To him,
stem cell research is “important to our country, our people and
our economy. There’s so much to lose here.”
(Stephanie Schupska is a news editor with the University of
Georgia College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences.)
