Of course, the Obama manages to get this wrong as well. "I believe that the restrictions that President Bush has placed on funding of human embryonic stem cell research have handcuffed our scientists and hindered our ability to compete with other nations." It is apparent that embryonic stem cell research in other nations suffers from the same sort of stigma that it does in the U.S. Consider this:
"[James Thomson] said he's amazed at how quickly scientists have begun exploring the use of the reprogrammed skin cells he reported on last year. "People are jumping in very rapidly, much more rapidly than they did 10 years ago" after the initial discovery of embryonic stem cells, Thomson said.
In all, 812 labs in dozens of countries have requested the materials needed to reprogram ordinary cells into iPS cells, said Addgene, a Massachusetts-based repository for research supplies. By contrast, a half-dozen or so labs started working with embryonic stem cells in the months after his landmark 1998 paper, Thomson said."
Obama also said, "However, embryonic stem cells remain the 'gold standard,' and studies of all types of stem cells should continue in parallel for the foreseeable future. ..."
While Thomson, the man responsible for discovering these non-embryonic pluripotent stem cells, has called embryonic stem-cells "the gold standard", he did so not because of known limitations on non-embryonic stem-cells. Wouldn't a prudent compromise be to exhaust all non-embryonic stem cell avenues before having to rely upon those harvested from human embryos? The reason embryonic stem-cells are deemed "the gold standard" is because they are easier to work with and known because a handful of researchers have been working with them for the past ten years. Look at the sheer increase in interest in non-embryonic stem-cell research. Imagine what that many more scientists working on this could discover without having to further impede on the sanctity of a human life.
2 comments:
I am always upset by the misleading language used when discussing this issue. President Bush is not limiting the amount of stem cell research nor the amount of funding that can be given to such research. He is simply limiting the amount of tax-payers' money that goes to this research. There are no restrictions on private funding. Thus, our ability to compete with other nations in this area has not been hindered.
Yes, there has in recent years been a bit of a crunch in funding for biomedical research. But much of that was due to a sudden influx of scientists into the field. This influx was a result of colleges and universities increasing the size of their programs and graduating more students with degrees in the biological sciences. Many researchers relied heavily upon NIH funding, and with more scientists for the NIH to fund, there was less money for each individual. However, this simply required scientists to tap into private resources. For such an up-and-coming and heavily mediacized field as stem cell research, getting private funding should not be difficult for anyone desiring to conduct serious research.
Another illusion is the time frame in which a miracle cure can be procured. So many people, Barrack Obama included, fail to realize how much time and work must go into creating an efficient final product. Scientific research, no matter what field, takes many years to perfect a method. As such, it will be very many years before we see any medical cures from stem cell research that don't pose great risks to society (even if that risk is simply not knowing the long-term effects of such treatments).
We should most certainly continue research on the current embryonic stem cell lines, but focus heavily upon developing viable alternatives such as iPS cells. If researchers feel the need to develop new lines, there will always be private funding sources willing to help. Though I strongly believe that great care should be taken to prevent atrocities such as true embryo farming.
So glad you weighed in on this Amy! I love hearing your opinion.
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