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Editorials
Wed Dec 15, 2004
| California's Stem Cell Gold Rush |
| By William Safire - December 15, 2004 |
| The person to watch in American medical science today is a California real estate developer named Robert Klein II. As the driving force behind the initiative to invest $3 billion in stem cell research over the next decade, the builder-financier has just been nominated by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger to head the citizens' committee overseeing the state's Institute for Regenerative Medicine. Here we have federalism in action, with states competing to lead the central government in creating national policy. When the government in Washington decided to move cautiously in funding this promising but controversial scientific research, individual states saw the competitive opportunity and made their move... |
| Source: The New York Times |
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Tue Dec 14, 2004
| Stem-cell research will now proceed; the issue is how |
| By David Magnus and Arthur Caplan - December 14, 2004 |
| The embryonic-stem-cell debate is dead. Long live the stem-cell debate. The successful isolation of human embryonic stem cells in 1997 ushered in a new frontier for exciting biomedical research. Embryonic-stem-cell research offers tremendous promise for treating a wide range of diseases in new ways. However, the political fight over when life begins has imperiled the potential of this research. Conservative opponents of abortion, including President Bush, have succeeded in blocking most federal funding for this form of stem-cell research. The stem-cell debate has been reduced to a fight about when human life begins and the miscasting of ``ethical'' concerns as appropriately about that single issue... |
| Source: Mercury News |
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Mon Dec 13, 2004
| California votes for embryonic stem cell research |
| By Jeffrey L. Fox - December 13, 2004 |
| When California voters strongly endorsed state Proposition 71 on November 2, stem cell researchers there and throughout the US saw something to celebrate. In passing the measure, state voters authorized annual spending of nearly $300 million through tax-free bond measures to support such research during the next decade. They also provided researchers with a novel means for bypassing federal bottlenecks that critics say hamper efforts in both the public and private sectors to further embryonic stem (ES) cell research. However, post-election celebrating linger several sets of concerns... |
| Source: Nature Biotechnology 22, 1485 - 1486 |
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Thu Dec 09, 2004
| The Wisdom of a 'Creepy Solution' |
| By Ramesh Ponnuru - December 9, 2004 |
| A friend of mine who has worked in prepping many political candidates for debates says that he always tells them to think, first of all, about whether there is any truth to a point their opponent has made. That is not a bad rule in general, and especially for opponents of embryo-destructive stem-cell research when considering two promising new avenues of research. The first thing that opponents of the research should learn from the proponents is that there have to be solid reasons to prohibit something: an aesthetic dislike for it -- the "ick factor" -- isn't enough. The second thing is that research is, in general, desirable, unless there are good reasons for blocking it... |
| Source: Tech Central Station |
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| Spinning out of control - Researchers should beware of 'public relations' screens that are anything but helpful to science communication |
| By Anonymous - December 9, 2004 |
| Those who report on science should give constant thanks to those scientists who explain their work with generosity and patience. Cynics who argue that researchers just crave publicity should recognize that the enthusiasm with which such information is typically imparted belies any suspicion of self-serving motives. Paradoxically, this willingness to engage with journalists is threatened by the idea in the scientific community of 'public engagement'. Many companies and research institutes now have slick PR offices in which the ethos is informed not by the scientific tradition of exchange and interaction, but by a culture of marketing. It may be natural that organizations want to trumpet their achievements... |
| Source: Nature 432, 657 |
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| Where theology matters |
| By Anonymous - December 9, 2004 |
| The voices of religion are more prominent and influential than they have been for many decades. Researchers, religious and otherwise, need to come to terms with this, while noting that some dogma is not backed by all theologians. Theologians and philosophers have been arguing about religion and science for centuries, so we won't presume to break any new ground here. Besides, nearly 800 years ago, Thomas Aquinas found a way to reconcile the two - as did Einstein, who wrote in 1930 that: "The cosmic religious feeling is the strongest and noblest motive for scientific research." Why not just leave it at that? Why not simply accept Pope John Paul II's view that science and religion each "bring out different aspects of reality"?... |
| Source: Nature 432, 657 |
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Mon Dec 06, 2004
| Cloning around |
| By Anonymous - December 6, 2004 |
| Last month, Californian voters not only gave the expected endorsement of the Democrat presidential candidate, but they also voted by an even bigger margin in favour of Proposition 71 - an initiative set to infuse billions of dollars into local stem-cell research. This reflects not only the perceived therapeutic potential of embryonic stem (ES) cells, but also the ethical dimension surrounding this issue. The proposition germinated among widespread fears that the Bush administration would reverse the 1998 compromise prohibiting federal funding for research involving the creation or destruction of human embryos, but not their use per se... |
| Source: Nature Cell Biology 6, 1145 |
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| A U.S.-U.K. stem-cell connection |
| By Roger Pedersen - December 6, 2004 |
| While the federal government ponders the ethical implications of therapeutic cloning, California is blazing a trail to the future. The Golden State has caught the attention of stem-cell scientists across the world as it takes its first steps toward becoming, thanks to Proposition 71, a destination of choice for stem-cell research, with taxpayer support to the tune of $3 billion. Questions about the ethics of using embryonic stem cells for disease research have threatened to slow progress in many countries, including the United States. But while the Bush administration has enacted limits on federal funds for research using embryonic stem cells and U.S. policymakers struggle to find a balance between seemingly irreconcilable points of view,... |
| Source: San Francisco Chronicle |
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Tue Nov 16, 2004
| The wisdom of the Costa Rican resolution |
| By Ben Mitchell - November 16, 2004 |
| This week the United Nations? General Assembly will debate yet again two conflicting proposals on human cloning. The so-called Costa Rican resolution, which is co-sponsored by the United States and about 60 other countries, would prohibit cloning human embryos for purposes of both reproduction and experimentation. A measure sponsored by Belgium and about 20 other countries would ban only reproductive cloning, thereby permitting the production of clones who would be destroyed when stem cells are extracted for research. Embryo cloning has been an extraordinarily controversial and divisive issue internationally. Groups like Britain?s Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA) have given permission... |
| Source: BP News |
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Fri Nov 12, 2004
| Attack on adult stem cells |
| By Michael Fumento - November 12, 2004 |
| Among the magazines even die-hard right-wingers should sometimes read are the neo-liberal ones The New Republic and the Washington Monthly. They often contain thoughtful articles with stimulating fresh thinking. Alas that makes it all the worse when they publish something moldier than a slab of Roquefort cheese. So it is with their current combined attack on adult stem cell research, designed to support the alternative of embryonic stem cells. Adult stem cells come from all over the body, plus umbilical cords and placentas. Embryonic stem cells come from pulling apart human embryos, and thus have aroused ethical concerns. The result says Chris Mooney in the Washington Monthly is that "conservatives have latched onto fringe science... |
| Source: The Modesto Bee |
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