August 8th, 2004
Wrong Focus For Stem Cell Politics
(From the BBC). The Kerry camp in the US presidential election is following the lead of various advocacy groups in marking the third anniversary of restrictions placed on federal funding of stem cell research by the current administration. This is absolutely the wrong focus - these restrictions have been nowhere near as damaging to progress as ongoing efforts to ban therapeutic cloning and restrictions imposed at the state level. Private sources account for approximately two thirds of all medical research, and these funds have been scared away by uncertainty over bans on vital technology over the past few years. One rule of politics seems to be that debates drift away from reality and fact as they grow - very unfortunate.