Politics, Obfuscation And Hyperbole
USA Today takes a look at the state of stem cell research politics in the US, finding that all sides are guilty of hyperbole and outright lies. No surprise there. While embryonic stem cell research "represents a breakthrough in terms of medical therapy that has been unprecedented since antibiotics and anesthesia," commercially available therapies are still some years - or even a decade or two - away. Opponents use the uncertainty inherent in research in their fight to suppress freedom of science for ideological reasons. But as Irving Weissman says, "If you have to prove ahead of time that something has to work before you will fund it, then stop funding all NIH research. Medical research is about discovery."
Link: http://www.usatoday.com/news/politicselections/nation/president/2004-09-16-stem-cells_x.htm