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San Francisco Getting Stem Cell Agency HQ
karvind writes "San Francisco was chosen Friday as the headquarters for California's new stem cell agency, beating out San Diego, Sacramento and Emeryville. The stem cell institute was created in November after voters overwhelmingly approved a measure allowing the state to borrow $3 billion to fund human embryonic stem cell research. According to Yahoo, the plans call for a 17,000-square-foot office with a maximum of 50 employees who will help dole out nearly $300 million in research grants annually over 10 years."
That's right people, there is no federal ban on stem cell research of any kind. No matter what the media tries to tell you.
How do you get a baby out of a blender With- *is overrun by thousands of stem-cell protestors*
They could just remodel "Colossus" programming headquarters. How's that for an obscure reference?
...but someone has to say it.
I bet they can't STEM the tide of calls from reporters....
[thank's I'll be here all week]
"Weapons should be hardy rather than decorative" - Miyamoto Musashi
I think that goes for OS's too
Heard about it on NPR. Free rent, free furniture, plasma screens, etc. All for 50 bureaucrats that won't actually do any research--they are strictly oversight. SF is hoping the Center will attract biotech firms to set up offices and labs in the city. A "prestige" coup. I kind of doubt it. You can get a lot more labspace a LOT cheaper not too far away. Not to mention the fact that a lot of biotech companies (Amgen, Genentech, IDEC, &c.) already have big centers in the state and don't need to set up facilities to land the bids.
blarg.
hands down?
erm. This Stem Cell Agency is going to have a fairly big impact on the SF economy. Google being hacked doesn't nearly have as big of an impact.
I could give two sh*ts about Googling being hacked... and I'm a web developer.
"Things are more moderner than before- bigger, and yet smaller- it's computers-- San Dimas High School football RULES!"
Seriously man, get with the program.
There's a ban on federal funding for stem cell research.
It's worse than that. There's a ban on stem cell research if you've received federal funding. If you have in the past received federal money, if any of that federal money went to facilities, etc, you can't do stem cell research with anything that money's touched. Not facilities, buildings, desk chairs, whatever.
So, the government offers these groups money. They get pretty much every important research institution infected with having received this money. Then suddenly they bait and switch and announce they're banning anyone who's received this money from doing vital medical research because it offends their leaders' religious sensibilities. Then they get to shrug, do a "who me", and have their lackeys on slashdot claim they didn't ban anything. Neat trick.
./ doesn't cover it because it is a tech story and /. doesn't cover tech stories any more.
Google wasn't hacked, that's just your browser redirecting to google.com.net because .com was down - it's the default behaviour for Safari, as far as I recall, isn't it? (notice how http://www.google.com.net/ is the page your screenshot shows?). The real issue is the major DNS poisoning going on, seemingly centered around gulli.com, seemingly a German hacking/cracking site (not directly linking, possible spyware risk);
.com and .net domains can now be registered
Open a terminal and run a whois on any major search site you can think of - google.com, yahoo.com, altavista.com, etc - you'll get results like:
matt@site-4:~$ whois altavista.com
Whois Server Version 1.3
Domain names in the
with many different competing registrars. Go to http://www.internic.net/
for detailed information.
Server Name: ALTAVISTA.COM.IS.N0T.AS.1337.AS.SEARCH.GULLI.COM
IP Address: 80.190.192.4
Registrar: KEY-SYSTEMS GMBH
Whois Server: whois.rrpproxy.net
Referral URL: http://www.key-systems.net/
So wake up Slashdot! No need for the coverup, it wasn't just your baby Google that got damaged, there's something serious going on that definately is 'News for Nerds' and you're posting stories about stem cells (admittedly fairly important) and some loser being picky about his motherboard.
Mod me and all these other posts Offtopic, but please, editor on duty, whoever you are, give us someplace to discuss this.
Dealing with lawyers would be a lot less tedious if they all looked like Casey Novak.
I don't even want to know how much a new 17,000 ft office building is going to cost in San Fransisco - but that can't be cheap (assuming you can build it after the environmental impact).
All this and no real science being done yet.
I have mod points and I am not afraid to use them
I realized after I pressed enter that I was confusing this with stem cells harvested from the umbilical cord
File under 'M' for 'Manic ranting'
Ok, ok, so he backs it, but I can't help but feel he is only doing so just in case these advances trickle down to reproductive cloning, because then he can create an United States citizen born copy of himself.
Surely not. Why, wouldn't that be a violation of the 6th Day Law?
Saving lives is not profitable. Viagra and headache medicines are. Private enterprise is going to go with the opportunities with the better margins.
Libertarians often have this funny idea that just because something is a good thing, there is a financial incentive to make it happen. This is in reality rarely the case.
What do we get for all these tax dollars? Why, scandals like Vioxx...and drugs like Nexium, which don't work much better than the pill they replaced, but have some little bit patented so it can't be cloned by generic drug companies...and a new catchy name or color for the public to run to their doctors, demand these premium drugs, and rip off our health insurance companies.
Please help metamoderate.
Professor Farnsworth: Is it true that stem cells may fight the aging process?
Stem Cell Agency Staffer: Well, yes, in the same way an infant may fight Muhammad Ali, but....
Professor Farnsworth: One pound of stem cells please!
Stem Cell Agency Staffer: (setting container labeled "Stem Cells" on the counter) Of course, any age-reversing effects will be purely temporary.
(Professor Farnsworth opens the container and starts slopping the stem cells on his face.)
Stem Cell Agency Staffer: Auugghh!!
California voted for embryonic stem cell research, even though cord blood stem cells, as well as adult stem cells, show more promise. Right now california has a bufget defcit that is out of control, basic infrastructure is growing obselete, and health care and retirement benefits are bankrupting local governments. The UC medical system is turning away emergency room patients, UC Davis can no longer afford to pay for it's life flight helicopters, and a major trauma center in Los Angeles is being closed. Imagine what could have happened if the money for this "Feel Good", initiative had been used for...........HEALTHCARE
You are wrong.
There are 3 places you can get stem cells --
adult cell, core blood cell (which is extra blood taken from the umbilical cord at birth) and embryonic cell.
The only ethical forms of stem cell research is adult cell and core blood cell.
Embryonic cells, come from embryos. Should companies be harvesting test tube embryos, then kill them before birth, to get stem cells? _embryonic_ stem cell research is NOT ethical.
The above is very true. From a commercial standpoint research ventures generally fail becuase they require long-term investment with low payback. These research ventures are however something that needs to be done, the world is not yet perfect, and stopping research wont help that.
Science has what is called "indivisible benefit", it will always benefit everyone, regardless of whether they pay or not. However if the payment was left up the those willing to pay regardless then they would there wouldn't be enough money to fund research. The idea in government funding is forcing everyone to pay becuase it helps them in ways people don't realize directly enough that they would give money without being forced.
The same idea applies to cleaning up the environment, building a complete road infrastructure, millitary and so on. They are all essential things to do which cannot be done without forcing everyone to chip in.
BTW, sorry if this double-posts.
The ban is on stem cell research derived from human embryos. And to be much more specific it is a federal ban on *NEW* embryos.
Here is an actual snippet from the prez:
"As a result of private research, more than 60 genetically diverse stem cell lines already exist" I have concluded that we should allow federal funds to be used for research on these existing stem cell lines " where the life and death decision has already been made", This allows us to explore the promise and potential of stem cell research" without crossing a fundamental moral line by providing taxpayer funding that would sanction or encourage further destruction of human embryos that have at least the potential for life."
-- George W. Bush
The Real Thing
And yes, that means that FEDERAL FUNDING *IS* ALLOWED for embrionic stem cells.
There is *NO* limitation on other types of stem cells.
And we already have created products from adult hair, skin, bone and blood stem cells. Most medical researchers insist that embrionic stem cells have less potential than other types of stem cells.
California has literally jumped the shark. Any facility that would like to touch that money *MUST* do embrionic stem cell research exclusivily.
This is equilivent to Wyoming deciding that ARM processors may save lives and setting up a research fund. In order to touch the fund you must do verifiable research on the ARM processor.
And yes, it really *IS* as silly as that. And we are not talking about magical money.... It is strictly tax payer money. Remember that last pizza... well forget it...
The funding is going to be like NIH funding, providing peer-reviewed grants for scientists, mostly from academia since the pharmaceuticals do very little of this type of research. If research money did not come from public or charitable funds, it would not be done since the short term profitability of trying to find a cure for Parkinson's or diabetes is rather dubious
The anger and frustration you seem to have about the drug industry should not be directed at the (relatively scant) tax dollars for basic research but towards the way that the drug research is structured downstream of the initial discoveries that encourage the wastefulness that you describe.
It is Embrionic Stem Cells.....
And federal funding is not restricted on the current lines of EMBRIOS. It is restricted on *NEW* Embrios.
And it is *NOT* Backword looking. Geeze...
Moderators, please MODERATE!
Here is a link to the real story
And for thoes challenged:
Embryonic Stem Cell Research
August 9, 2001
"As a result of private research, more than 60 genetically diverse stem cell lines already exist" I have concluded that we should allow federal funds to be used for research on these existing stem cell lines " where the life and death decision has already been made", This allows us to explore the promise and potential of stem cell research" without crossing a fundamental moral line by providing taxpayer funding that would sanction or encourage further destruction of human embryos that have at least the potential for life."
-- George W. Bush
Federal funding of research using existing embryonic stem cell lines is consistent with the President's belief in the fundamental value and sanctity of human life. The President's decision reflects his fundamental commitment to preserving the value and sanctity of human life and his desire to promote vital medical research. The President's decision will permit federal funding of research using the more than 60 existing stem cell lines that have already been derived, but will not sanction or encourage the destruction of additional human embryos. The embryos from which the existing stem cell lines were created have already been destroyed and no longer have the possibility of further development as human beings. Federal funding of medical research on these existing stem cell lines will promote the sanctity of life " without undermining it " and will allow scientists to explore the potential of this research to benefit the lives of millions of people who suffer from life destroying diseases.
Federal funds will only be used for research on existing stem cell lines that were derived: (1) with the informed consent of the donors; (2) from excess embryos created solely for reproductive purposes; and (3) without any financial inducements to the donors. In order to ensure that federal funds are used to support only stem cell research that is scientifically sound, legal, and ethical, the NIH will examine the derivation of all existing stem cell lines and create a registry of those lines that satisfy this criteria. More than 60 existing stem cell lines from genetically diverse populations around the world are expected to be available for federally-funded research.
No federal funds will be used for: (1) the derivation or use of stem cell lines derived from newly destroyed embryos; (2) the creation of any human embryos for research purposes; or (3) the cloning of human embryos for any purpose. Today's decision relates only to the use of federal funds for research on existing stem cell lines derived in accordance with the criteria set forth above.
The President will create a new President's Council on Bioethics, chaired by Dr. Leon Kass, an expert in biomedical ethics and a professor at the University of Chicago, to study the human and moral ramifications of developments in biomedical and behaviorial science and technology. The Council will study such issues as embryo and stem cell research, assisted reproduction, cloning, genetic screening, gene therapy, euthanasia, psychoactive drugs, and brain implants.
BACKGROUND
Embryonic stem cells. Embryonic stem cells, which come from the inner cell mass of a human embryo, have the potential to develop into all or nearly all of the tissues in the body. The scientific term for this characteristic is "pluripotentiality."
Adult stem cells. Adult stem cells are unspecialized, can renew themselves, and can become specialized to yield all of the cell types of the tissue from which they originate. Although scientists believe that some adult stem cells from one tissue can develop
So all those embryos which are destroyed right now should go to waste instead of being harvested? If you have no idea what I'm talking about then maybe you should go look at what in-vitro fertilization entails and then come back.
Sorry. But you CAN do stem cell research with federal money.
0 010809-1.html
Here are the basic guidelines:
Federal funds will only be used for research on existing stem cell lines that were derived: (1) with the informed consent of the donors; (2) from excess embryos created solely for reproductive purposes; and (3) without any financial inducements to the donors. In order to ensure that federal funds are used to support only stem cell research that is scientifically sound, legal, and ethical, the NIH will examine the derivation of all existing stem cell lines and create a registry of those lines that satisfy this criteria. More than 60 existing stem cell lines from genetically diverse populations around the world are expected to be available for federally-funded research.
No federal funds will be used for: (1) the derivation or use of stem cell lines derived from newly destroyed embryos; (2) the creation of any human embryos for research purposes; or (3) the cloning of human embryos for any purpose. Today's decision relates only to the use of federal funds for research on existing stem cell lines derived in accordance with the criteria set forth above.
See:
http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2001/08/2
And, since the existing stem cell lines are pretty much useless due to contamination, this boils down to a ban on effective research. Meanwhile, fertility clinics destroy embryos that will never be implanted or have the potential to become human beings -- each one a potential source of a new stem cell line -- every day. This is insanity.
The correlation between ignorance of statistics and using "correlation is not causation" as an argument is close to 1.
While much of the opposition to the bond issue was from those of us with ethical objections to the research, as well as objections to using bonds to fund things that should be funded from general-fund tax revenues instead, some of the strongest arguments against the proposition in the official debates were made by people who support government-funded stem cell research and thought that the whole project was an overpriced scam.
Bill Stewart
New Fast-Compression-only CPR http://preview.tinyurl.com/dy575ks