Opposition Was Wrong Back Then Too

A useful analogy appears in the SF Examiner: "Opposition to stem cell research is reminiscent of another wrongly waged battle against gene splicing almost 30 years ago ... 'They were wrong,' said Robert N. Klein, chairman of the Independent Citizens Oversight Committee of the California Institute of Regenerative Medicine. ... In the mid-1970s, critics fought the development of recombinant DNA - gene splicing, where segments of genetic material from one organism are transferred to another. Critics said gene splicing was wild, uncontrolled science that would take decades to return benefits, Klein said. But by 1978, the first artificial human insulin was developed at UCSF. Now there are heart and cancer treatments. 'It was a great lesson to all of us. We have a legacy, a duty to move the frontier forward.'"

Link: http://www.sfexaminer.com/articles/2005/03/08/news/20050308_ne05_debate.txt