When the White House opened a new Tumblr account recently, they featured a number of letters written to President Obama. Amongst those letters was one authored by 15-year-old Gavin Nore.
Gavin had met with Barrack Obama in 2007, before Obama had won his first term as president. They had talked about stem cell research and Obama’s position on its legality and funding. Obama confirmed he would support stem cell research into the future.
Gavin didn’t realise how important his question would become. In 2013, at the age of 14, he was diagnosed with Hodgkins Lymphoma. He managed to beat the illness and went into remission. It returned in 2015, but thanks to a stem cell transplant, Gavin survived yet again.
Gavin thanked President Obama in the latter for his continued support for stem cell research, writing: “I would like to thank you very much for continuing the research. If the research hadn’t continued, I wouldn’t be here today”
There are still some controversies surrounding the potential sources of stem cells that are used for research purposes. Embryonic stem cells, obtained from fertilised embryos, are the focus of most of the controversy because the embryos can develop into a human baby. Most of the embryos used in research are donated by women who have left-over embryos after undertaking in-vitro fertilisation. Their use is banned in some parts in the United States and research funding has been restricted at some levels of government.
The stem cells found in umbilical cord blood are considered non-controversial because the material would normally be discarded as medical waste after a child is born. Collecting umbilical cord blood does not interfere with birth of the child and does negatively impact mother or child.
Source: Gavin’s Letter to US President About Continuing Stem Cell Research
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