Is a Parkinson’s Cure in Sight?

A new report explains that improvements in neurological functioning have been stimulated in mice with Parkinson’s-like symptoms through the use of therapeutic cloning. Unlike the more controversial reproductive cloning, which aims to produce a complete living organism, therapeutic cloning aims to produce specific healthy cell types that can then be re-introduced to the host to replace diseased cells. Because the cloned cells are genetically identical to the host, they are not destroyed by the immune response.

With mice, at least, this technique has now been demonstrated to be an effective treatment for the symptoms of Parkinson’s disease. Transferring such technology from rodents to humans is not always easy or inevitable — we are not rodents, however much some folks seem to invite the comparison — so it is too early to say this will work with humans, but it is hopeful.

This brings us to the question of what should be done next. The process is not ready for use on humans, and it would be unethical to begin experimenting on people at this stage. But mice are too far removed from humans to provide satisfactory evidence that the process is safe and effective. Obviously, we need to try this on chimps, or other primates before it is used on humans. But animal activists will cry that it is animal abuse and unethical to use these highly developed simian species for laboratory experiments. If it were a question of trying out the latest cosmetic invention or some behavioral study, I would agree — but with something as important as the potential cure of Parkinson’s Disease, I think it would be unethical NOT to use primates in these experiments. We need to treat animals as ethically as possible — but NOT to the detriment of humans!