This past year, I have had the honour of meeting with some of the leading scientists in the field of stem cell research. It has opened my eyes to a whole new world of possibilities.

I just finished my fourth year as an undergraduate student in the Biomedical Sciences program at the University of Ottawa, and I’m  working towards becoming a scientist because there are many things in the world that intrigue me. Most importantly, how do things work? How do I work? And if it something in me is broken, how can it be fixed?

I’ve been working with Dr. Michael Rudnicki on my honours thesis on stem cells that allow muscle regeneration. As a fourth year project, I was not expecting a breakthrough to cure a disease. But Michael is. His research into muscle stem cells can change the lives of young children suffering from muscular dystrophy. The method is to understand how the healthy body repairs itself at the cellular and molecular levels. Then, we can replicate, optimize and apply what we have learned. Not all miracles are by chance. The ones that aren’t take time and effort.

Most people have heard about how stem cells are supposed to be miracle cures and allow us to defeat previously incurable diseases. They’ve also heard of the ethical issues involved with the procurement of stem cells. Since the Stem Cell Charter launched last year I’ve been going around Ottawa and surveying pedestrians about their views on stem cells. To my surprise, public knowledge in this area is very out-dated and full of misinformation. However, the consensus was that people are eager to learn more about it.

This is why we need to spread the word about the Stem Cell Charter. The Charter promotes responsible research. We need to eliminate circulating myths and raise public awareness on the various types of research taking place. The ethical practice we follow as scientists should be recognized by the community; and the work we establish will have greater impact only when people pursue their curiosity to better understand stem cell research.

If you want to learn about stem cells, don’t jump too far into the literature. Take it one step at a time. Learn what stem cells are. Learn about their potential and the impact they can have on modern medicine. Learn the various points of views and new techniques on sources of stem cells. Because the more everyone knows the faster we can move forward.

Yu Xin (Will) Wang is a graduate student studying Cellular Molecular Medicine at the University of Ottawa. He believes in the responsible advancement of stem cell science.

I began my career as a nurse and have always been interested in medicine and scientific research. Today, I am a working mom with a loving husband and two beautiful boys. We are all happy and healthy and free of any disease.  So why have stem cells become important to me?

Even though I am healthy, I have been touched in a few ways that have made me realise how important stem cell science is to our society.

In the past few years, I lost a work colleague to Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS), a devastating neuromuscular disease for which there is no cure or treatment. This year, I lost another friend to this terrible disease and it had a profound impact on me.

Both of these people fought courageous battles, but even at the start of their battle there was no hope.  Imagine becoming afflicted with a disease for which there is no cure, no treatment and nothing to wait for except an inevitable death? Even worse, imagine being the person left to care for the dying relative, husband, friend or wife and knowing that there is nothing you can do to prevent their death.

I also lost an uncle to Multiple Sclerosis (MS) and saw him deteriorate as the disease took its toll. At this moment, I have a cousin who is dying of brain cancer and there is no hope for her – none at all.

These diseases have affected my friends and family. They were all young and productive members of our society. They also all had young families when they died and, as a parent, I cannot imagine anything worse than leaving my children behind.

Stem cells present an opportunity to treat and potentially cure  many of the diseases I have mentioned above. Stem cell science has a powerful potential to stop more suffering for ordinary people – just like you or I. I am not involved with research or working directly with this science – but I strongly believe in it.

First and foremost, I am a mom.  I always feel that there is not enough time in my day and that I should be doing more. By spreading the word through twitter, facebook and by just talking to people I’m making everyone around me aware of how important this science and I feel I am making a difference. Each time we  talk to someone else about the Charter and get them to spread the word we are one step closer to eradicating some deadly diseases and to furthering good science that matters.

I want anyone reading this to know that anyone can be affected by disease down the road – when something happens to you or someone you love, stem cells may be the answer.

Dawn Wilson immigrated to Canada from Scotland in 1991 and has lived in Ottawa ever since. She has worked for the Ottawa Convention Centre for over 10 years and works closely with the Canadian Association Market to bring national and international conferences and conventions to  Ottawa. Married to a fellow Brit, Jeremy, she has two small boys aged five and two.

I’m not a scientist. I’m not even a scientific person. But I have always supported scientific research and I believe in the Stem Cell Charter.

At 41, I was diagnosed with a form of Muscular Dystrophy called Myotonic Dystrophy. Up until that point, I lived an active, rewarding and very fortunate existence. Within six months, I went from complaining about a periodic inability to release my grip to being diagnosed with a disease that has no cure and limited treatment. The muscles in my hand, right leg and tongue are deteriorating. Many other muscles may be affected in the future.

The most devastating part of hearing my diagnosis was not what it meant for me, but realizing that my two children each have a 50% chance of inheriting the disease and that it gets progressively worse with each generation.

Myotonic dystrophy is caused by a mutation of a gene that is essential for normal muscle and body function. It can only be diagnosed because of the research that allows us to map our genes.

I believe in the Stem Cell Charter because without research into how human beings develop, we will never be able to help people facing potentially devastating diseases such as Myotonic Dystrophy.

Ijeoma Ross is a freelance journalist living in Toronto. She says, “It is for my kids and their generation who will benefit from this groundbreaking research that I signed the Stem Cell Charter.”

Stem Cells on the Patio is a fun way to celebrate summer while raising awareness and funds for stem cell science. Throw a party or bbq and encourage your guests to support you with a donation to the Canadian Stem Cell Foundation. Invite friends, family, neighbours, colleagues, and anyone else you’d like to spend some time with this summer and fall. This is a great way to turn a party into something more.

If you don’t organize your own party, attend someone else’s. And if you don’t get a chance to attend, support a friend’s party, or even ours. Click here to see what the Foundation has planned.

On our Stem Cells on the Patio site, you can sponsor a party or set up your own personal ”Stem Cells on the Patio” page. Check back for updates over the next month, and help us work towards advancing stem cell science.

Charter Principle # 3: We support “Intellectual Freedom to exchange ideas in the spirit of international collaboration.”

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights (United Nations, 1948) and the International Convention on Civil and Political Rights (United Nations, 1966) define the right to freedom of thought and expression (i.e. intellectual freedom) as a fundamental human right.

For scientists, this means the right to freely seek, receive and impart information and ideas. It also entails respect for other views and values. So basically, intellectual freedom is the right of an individual scientist (and the scientific community) to conduct their research, publish their findings and teach and speak without unjustified interference (e.g. political, religious, etc).

What does this mean for the future — and present — of stem cell science?

Stem cell science can only move forward if scientists have the freedom (and responsibility) to do their research, share their results and exchange ideas. This doesn’t mean that they should have free reign to do anything they want — their work must always comply with ethical and legal rules and regulations — but it does mean that an environment that values and supports the basic human right to intellectual freedom is vitally important, if not essential, to fulfilling the function of science by expanding and disseminating knowledge.

Rosario Isasi is a Research Associate at the Centre of Genomics and Policy at McGill University. Her hobbies include bioethics, bioethics and bioethics. (And stem cells and policy.)

Our friends at the National Regenerative Medicine Network are working to accelerate the translation of regenerative medicine (a.k.a. stem cell science) from textbooks and studies to patients. They’re in the running to win part of $5 million in this year’s Chase Community Giving program and we hope you’ll vote and help them continue their good work.

Click here to vote. You’ll need a Facebook account to log in. Just “like” the Chase Community Giving Program and vote for the National Regenerative Medicine Foundation. Then share with your friends.

Click here to visit the National Regenerative Medicine Foundation website and learn more about what they do.

Throughout July, we’ll be profiling Charter Community members, people who have signed the Stem Cell Charter and are actively spreading the word about stem cell science. Today, an article by Bill and Victoria Strong, passionate stem cell science advocates who started the Gwendolyn Strong Foundation last year to raise awareness and funds for Spinal Muscular Atrophy research.

Our daughter Gwendolyn was born in October 2007. She was perfectly healthy at first, but was diagnosed with Spinal Muscular Atrophy (SMA) Type I at six-months-old. A genetic disease that affects children all over the world, SMA is currently a death sentence with no treatment or cure.

As parents, it was simply impossible to do nothing. We started the Gwendolyn Strong Foundation (GSF), a nonprofit public charity dedicated to increasing global awareness of SMA and accelerating research toward a cure.

Our primary way of reaching people is through technology and online media, running campaigns to increase awareness and much needed funding. In our first year, we’ve managed to create a strong grassroots community online. We’ve run several Twitter-based campaigns, reaching millions of people around the globe. We were voted to the winner’s circle out of more than 500,000 non-profit organizations in the first Chase Community Giving campaign on Facebook, winning $125,000 for our cause. We created an online petition, garnering over 90,000 votes in support of important SMA legislation currently making its way through the United States Congress.  We’ve directed significant funding to researchers and are proud of what our organization and the broader SMA community has accomplished.

And we’re no strangers to stem cell science. In fact, our fundraising programs have directed over $235,000 in the last eight months to a promising stem cell program at the University of California, Irvine led by Dr. Hans Keirstead. This groundbreaking research, using motor neuron progenitors, is on the brink of human clinical trial in the United States — possibly the first ever of its kind — and has already paved the way for future stem cell projects.

We know stem cell science holds massive promise for SMA and we believe in the power of grassroots movements. This is why we signed the Stem Cell Charter. It represents an important grassroots-based paradigm shift, focused on creating a better understanding and highlighting the dedication of inspiring scientists actively involved in moving stem cell science forward across the globe.

We also know that others needed to know about this important movement. So we’ve reached out to our social network through email, twitter, facebook and our blog, asking our supporters to sign the Stem Cell Charter and spread the word. And when we learned the Stem Cell Charter was up for a Webby award, we were happy to once again to reach out to our network to rally online support. We are strong supporters of what the Stem Cell Charter is hoping to accomplish and are honored to be involved.

Read more about the Strongs here.

Over 4,000 people have signed the Stem Cell Charter since its release last September. This month, we’ll be profiling Charter Community Members, people who signed the Charter and are passionately working towards advancing stem cell science. They’ll tell us why they signed the Charter, why they think supporting stem cell science is important and what they’re doing to champion the cause.

But before we get to that, let’s take a look at why people signed the Charter to begin with. Everyone who signed was asked why they were signing: for themselves or someone they care about; the scientists so they can continue their work; the responsible advancement of stem cell science; the benefit of future generations; or all humanity. Which reason did you choose? And which reasons did others choose? Take a look below to see the breakdown.

Almost half of us signed for All Humanity. This encompasses a great variety of reasons, and this month is the perfect time to share your personal reasons for supporting stem cell science. Send us your story by email, or by posting it on facebook, twitter, or in the comments section of this post.