Michael J Fox Ad
A few days ago, a tv ad appeared showing actor Michael J Fox speaking in support of candidates who supports stem cell research. He is suffering from Parkinson’s disease and from the tv ad you can see the involuntary movement that his body makes.
You can watch the ad at the end of this post.
Fox’s political advisor, John Rogers, explained that the actor’s involuntary, repetitive movement seen in his campaign ads stem from a condition called dyskinesia, a common side effect of the medication many Parkinson’s sufferers take to allow them greater mobility.
The reaction from the tv ad was evident, some people mocked him, some says he was acting but a poll showed the support for stem cell research jumped after the tv ad was shown.
So what is the debate regarding stem cell research? Well I am no expert in this too, in fact I just know the basic about this 10 minutes ago after some googling.
From Wikipedia
Stem cells have the ability to act as a repair system for the body, because they can divide and differentiate, replenishing other cells as long as the host organism is alive.
Medical researchers believe stem cell research has the potential to change the face of human disease by being used to repair specific tissues or to grow organs.
However, there are 2 ways stem cell research can be done. Embryonic cell and adult cell. Embryonic stem cells involves taking the cell from a developing embryo, effectively killing a developing human life. In other words, it’s abortion.
Adult cell meanwhile are found in all tissues of the growing human being and, according to latest reports, also have the potential to transform themselves into practically all other cell types, or revert to being stem cells with greater reproductive capacity (taken from 21st Century Science Tech)
While I am not sure which stem cell research Fox is supporting (he didn’t specified), seeing him in that state shook me emotionally. Pity him.
You can watch the video below. More links after the video.
Wikipedia : Stem cell
The Star : Actor Fox sparks debate, support for stem cells
YouTube : Video reply to Fox’s ad
