A 16-year-old Michigan boy was shot in the heart with a nail gun last week. It was an accident — Dimitri Bonneville and his buddies were horsing around at a construction site. He was taken to Beaumont Hospital and the prognosis didn’t look good, so his doctors decided on an experimental procedure never before used at that particular medical facility. When the news story was published, the doctors were confident that the boy would pull through.

This experimental procedure was stem cell treatment, and is just one more reason why stem cell research must continue. Stem cell therapy is already being used to help treat some cancers and blood disorders at Iowa Methodist Medical Center in Des Moines. Doctors and other researchers at the University of Iowa Medical School are glued to their microscopes, on the brink of exciting possibilities.

Stem cell therapy is cutting edge technology that could change health care forever because stem cells could regenerate damaged or diseased cells and tissues in order to restore bodily functions. Stem cells could cure Alzheimer’s disease, end-stage kidney disease, cancer, heart disease, diabetes and other diseases.

According to the Loras College Web site, www.loras.edu/~Catholic HE/StemResearch.html, various tissues and organs of the human body are made up of specialized cells that are adapted to perform certain functions. Stem cells are cells that have the ability to reproduce themselves for long periods of time, and have the ability to give rise to specialized cell types. Cells such as heart cells and skin cells are committed to perform a specific function. A stem cell, however, is “uncommitted,” and it remains this way until it receives a signal to develop into a specialized cell.

There are three sources of stem cells. Some are found in adults and can serve as a natural replacement mechanism for specialized cells in an adult, which was the case with the Michigan boy. Stem cells can also be obtained from fetal tissue from aborted pregnancies.

The process of obtaining stem cells from early stage human embryos begins with embryos produced through in vitro fertilization (IVF). In the process of IVF, a large number of ova are retrieved and fertilized to create embryos. However, only about three embryos are transferred back to a woman at any given time in the attempt to achieve a pregnancy. This is to avoid multiple pregnancies (twins, triplets or more). The unused embryos become “spares” and are used for research purposes.

The controversy comes into play with the methods by which stem cells can be obtained. Some believe it morally and ethically wrong to use these “spare” embryos. But when the opportunity exists to use these tools for the greater good of mankind, scientists are obligated to use them in research. Those in opposition to using stem cells extracted from aborted fetuses or “spare” embryos or embryos created specifically for research are generally also those opposed to abortion.

Quantity is the issue. Researchers must have access to enough stem cells. According to a report from the National Institute of Health released in July 2001, human embryonic stem cells are easier to grow in a laboratory than adult stem cells. Millions of cells can be generated from one embryonic stem cell, and these cells will remain in an undifferentiated state and are therefore useful.

The rate of abortions performed will not decrease significantly anytime soon. Why not put a use to something consciously rejected that can still offer hope for millions suffering from incurable disease and illness? No one would claim that the surgeon who transplants the homicide or accident victim’s kidneys, heart, liver or corneas, or the recipient of this tissue, become “accomplices” in the homicide or accident that made the organs available.

Bonneville suffered a heart attack as a result of his initial injury. Stem cells were harvested from his blood and then infused into the damaged portion of his heart by a catheter, according to the article. It also reported that, earlier this year, German and Hong Kong researchers conducted a similar procedure in heart attack patients, but the stem cells were harvested from the patient’s bone marrow — a much more invasive method than the one used on the Michigan teen.

Doctors hope to see significant improvement in Bonneville’s heart in three months. If the experiment fails, the boy will need a heart transplant. With this kind of technology, hopefully he won’t have to undergo such high-risk surgery.

I remember interviewing a Des Moines high school senior a few years ago who suffered from juvenile diabetes.

She had a dream that her illness and countless others would eventually be cured through stem cell therapy and had just returned from a visit to Washington to lobby for more federal money on stem cell research.

My story focused on the success of her efforts and I couldn’t help but be inspired by her enthusiasm. Stem cell research has incredible potential to save lives, not destroy them.