Stem Cell Research Moves Forward In The US

maniacdavid writes "President George Bush has finally made a clear and final decision on stem cell research. He will allow the existing 60 cell lines to continue their development in the hopes of curing a disease. He said the choice was difficult because of his stand on against stem cell funding during his campaign. But he allowed the 60 to continue because the choice between life and death was already made. This is good for both sides and many people are pleased. " Granted, there's the issue of these 60 lines viability, but at least it's not a total federal funding ban, as was widely expected. As well, there's increased funding on stem cells obtained from adults, umbilical cords, placentas and animals - 250$US million this year, which is still a pittance when you consider the potentials of stem cells.

Comments

Re:Stem cells, etc.

[psxndc]

Kind of odd that there's such a brouhaha about this, given that most of the real progress wth stem cells has not featured fetal tissue in any form

What?? My girlfriend is a molecular biologist who works with the cDNA libraries of a lot of animals and she says human adult stem cells are nowhere near as easy to work with or productive as fetal tissue is. I'm not pro-abortion (but I am pro-choice), but the fact of the matter is: a stem cell, in its purest form is an undifferentiated cell. These "pure stem cells" are best found in undeveloped, terminated fetii (sp?).

Secondly, my girlfriend says 60 libraries isn't enough despite what Bush and his bio advisors say. She says there are hundreds out there. While I guess Bush acquiescing to a degree is a step in the right direction, there still is a way to go.

Regardless, most of the companies doing stem cell research don't need federal funding anyway. The private sector of Biotech has plenty of VC.

psxndc

Re:/me looks at his organ donor card

[Judebert]

You're not completely missing the point. Here are a few things you are missing that might help you understand the issue:

Even the staunch opponents of embryonic stem cell research would agree that your life is just as valid as any other -- even that cluster of cells they believe is human.

The difference in the cases you cite is that you are already dead before we do research with your corpse. The child is already dead before we do research with its corpse. We have to kill the embryo before we can do research on its corpse.

You noted that the embryo will be flushed anyway; killed in any case. That's another point the opponents dislike. They believe that flushing the embryo is a problem, too.

The US government itself just said that it won't spend people's money on research that involves killing an embryo. It also said that it would continue to fund research where the embryo is already dead, and it would increase research funding for stem cells obtained from sources where human life isn't an issue.

Note that the US government didn't say that it doesn't want research to happen. The House of Representatives may say such a thing later this month, but I'll hold comment on that until it happens.

Judebert
"We're out of explosives. What we need is a plan!"

Re:Wrong

[Tackhead]

> It is an utter defeat for Bush to say, "Well, those babies are dead anyway." It is not fundamentally different from saying this to Mengele:
> "You Nazis have committed unspeakable acts of utter barbarity against the Jews! By the way, can we see your research files?"

If you can find an original Pernkopf Anatomy Atlas and compare it with versions currently in print, you'll see that this is exactly what happened.

Here's a more detailed article on the issue. It's a bioethicist's nightmare.

Re:Political powers in non political situations.

[David Greene]

THEN came Christianity, and Europe went into a thousand year dark age because of that before the Greek tradition saw rebirth.

I have to take issue with this. Christianity was not the cause of the dark ages. Rome's own decay and corruption brought it about, with the help of your local friendly Germanic barbarians. :)

Keep in mind that Christian monks preserved a lot of the ancient knowledge we still possess.

Re:bad precedent?

[Galvatron]

X Files episode. In real life, most of what we know about the limitations of human endurance have are from Nazi doctors' notes. How long it takes to drown, how much blood you can lose, ability to recover from concussions, all of this is stuff the Nazis tested under laboratory conditions. Obviously, we would never replicate these experiments, so as grim as it is, it's useful data that is otherwise totally unobtainable.