As a former science teacher, Kelly Lane believes embryonic stem cell research will unravel the mystery of how cells function.

As a Parkinson's patient, he hopes new information will help scientists find a cure for his disease and others like it.

"Once they understand basic cell function, they can apply it," he said. "I see it as a learning tool."

Lane plans to sign a petition, expected to begin circulating in South Dakota this week, which will give voters in the 2010 election the chance to overturn a state ban on embryonic stem cell research.

Organized by the South Dakotans for Lifesaving Cures, the petition drive comes eight months after President Barack Obama overturned a 2001 order by then-President George W. Bush that barred the National Institutes of Health from funding embryonic stem cell research beyond the existing stem cell lines. South Dakota passed its ban in 2000.

David Volk of the South Dakotans for Lifesaving Cures said the initiative will ask voters to allow research on embryonic stem cells, but only stem cells left over from in vitro fertilization procedures, cells that would have been discarded otherwise. They will be used only if the donors decide to donate them, and the initiative will not ask for any public funding, he said.

Volk sees the removal of the ban as critical to changing the face of medicine.

"I am a believer that this type of stem cell research will lead to cures to horrible medical scourges that have plagued us for years," he said.

Linda Schauer, state director of the Concerned Women for America of South Dakota, sees the future of stem cell research much differently.

"Embryonic stem research is full of empty promises. It's a dead end," she said.

To understand the stem embryonic cell debate, it helps to understand stem cells.

The controversial little cells are really "hollow microscopic balls of cells" that come from a fertilized egg. According to the National Institutes of Health, most embryonic stem cells come from eggs fertilized for in vitro treatments in a lab, not from eggs fertilized in a women's body.

The embryos are usually four to five days old and their stem cells have the potential to develop into different cell types. Embryonic stem cells are thought to distinguish themselves from other stem cell types in their ability to renew themselves, even after long inactive periods. They can be induced into becoming specific cell types, depending upon need.

Stem cell researchers hope to discover how organisms develop from a single cell and how healthy cells might be used to replace damaged cells that cause such diseases as diabetes, Parkinson's and Lou Gehrig's disease.

For people who believe that life begins at conception, the idea of manipulating embryonic stem cells is clearly wrong.

"I don't think one life should be sacrificed for another," Schauer said.

Schauer argues that the genetic makeup of life is in place at conception, constituting life.

"I guess all they have to do is look at the medical books," she said. "Look at the science of it, and it's very plain."

Lane is cautious not to suggest others should believe as he does. But he leans on his science background to make his own decision regarding embryonic stem cells.

"I just do not believe biologically that a fertilized cell is a human being," he said. "I still see tremendous value in stem cell research."

Lane believes that research in embryonic stem cells will likely be short-lived, as scientists learn what they need to know about the function of cells. Once they understand that, he believes they will be able to use any type of cell to treat disease.

"I really do believe it's a very temporary thing," he said. "I think we will be able to turn anything into a stem cell down the road."

Robin Miskimins, director of research development at the Sanford School of Medicine at the University of South Dakota, said current research at the medical school uses only adult stem cells, which are not taken from embryos. They can be harvested from such things as bone marrow.

Researchers are exploring how those cell types might be induced to change to prevent or cure disease, but the process is longer and less successful than embryonic stem cells are believed to be, she said.

"Adult ones are usually more limited," she said.

Another alternative to embryonic stem cells is using pluripotent stem cells, which are adult cells that have been genetically reprogrammed to look and act like embryonic stem cells. That is not being used in research in South Dakota.

"You have to have a very specific facility to be able to generate them. We don't have one in South Dakota," Miskimins said.

For Schauer, the two cell alternatives back her argument that embryonic stem cells aren't needed for meaningful research. She argues that early research into embryonic stem cells have shown them to be largely unhelpful, while research using adult stem cells has cured or improved the outcome for such diseases as lupus and multiple sclerosis.

"Why go down that path? Why waste your time, energy and research going down this dead-end path?" she asked.

Volk, however, sees that path as littered with even more possibilities. A cancer survivor himself, Volk said he's tired of losing friends and family to illnesses that might be cured with more thorough research. He's frustrated that one belief system is able to restrict medical decisions of all South Dakotans.

"I'm basically a conservative Republican. I believe in individual rights," he said. "I just believe that we should be having this kind of research, and certainly citizens should have the right to choose their medical treatment."

Lane recently underwent a new procedure that greatly improved his quality of life, but he still has Parkinson's. A recent interview with two Nobel Laureates gave him renewed hope for the future, however, especially when the scientists declared the 21st century as the century when scientists will finally understand the brain. Lane believes that embryonic stem cell research will play a role in that understanding.

"Who are we to say what direction research will take," he said.

Contact Lynn Taylor Rick at lynn.taylorrick@rapidcityjournal.com or 394-8414.