Bush has provided a good first step for embryonic stem cell research but...
-it only covers cells extracted up until today.
-it will get the important research underway on a larger scale but may limit scientists' options (last night a leading Molecular Biologist from Princeton told Jeff Greenfield on CNN that Bush's new proposal would be like making leading researchers operate with one hand behind their back).
-Bush made a good effort to educate the country about the complexities of a stem cell research decision BUT I wish he had educated himself more about Senator Bill Frist's position --> he is the only Doctor in the Senate and is very thoughtful about this issue. He recently proposed that the Government actively fund scientific research on the 300,000++ Embryos that ALREADY exist in fertilization clinics around the country. He did want some federal oversight BUT I think that would be valuable. Bush, on the other hand has been much more restrictive and is only allowing Government funding of research on about 60+ stem cell lines that are already out there. IMO, this may set the stage for a big Congressional Debate about what the appropriate guidelines for Gov't sponsored research in this area should really be.
-Howard Fineman from Newsweek commented late last night that this decision provided 'a political catscan of Bush's brain'....He feel's Bush is a true blue conservative and is playing to his base. Yet, the Christopher Reeves and Michael J. Foxes of the world have a very powerful lobby....Over 125 million Americans could benefit from new therapeutic advances (or cures) that might originate from embryonic stem cell research...Its important to take this into consideration when determining guidelines. Research is already underway in the private sector and our Government should augment and support this in the most appropriate way. Everyone on SI has a friend or relative (with Alzheimers, Parkinsons, Paralysis, Diabetes, etc) that could benefit from new breakthroughs. There is no guarantee that embryonic stem cell research will provide all the answers. Yet, some of the brightest scientific minds on the planet feel our best hope lies with aggressive embryonic stem cell research and ultimately stem cell therapy.
-I respect the President's beliefs and still feel he was too restrictive with his proposal last night. We'll see what Congress decides to do.
**These are just my views that I have shared on this hot topic.
Here are some other reactions...
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Researchers Worry About Bush's Stem Cell Decision
Friday August 10 12:19 AM ET
By Will Dunham
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Stem cell researchers and patients' advocates cautiously welcomed President Bush (news - web sites)'s decision to allow federal funds for embryonic stem cell research but said limits imposed on the work ultimately could ruin its promise for treating a variety of diseases.
Bush said he would allow taxpayers' money to be used on research involving stem cells harvested from live human embryos.
But he also said that the stem cells -- primitive master cells that can transform themselves into other cell types -- would have to come from 60 existing lines. Each cell line is a reservoir of stem cells derived from a single embryo.
Researchers Thursday questioned whether 60 cell lines existed and, since many are owned by private companies, whether federally funded researchers would be able to use them. Government funding allows researchers at universities to conduct work that previously limited largely to private companies or academic scientists with corporate backing.
``Well, at least they're allowing some federally funded work on human embryonic stem cells,'' Dr. Diane Krause, a stem cell researcher at Yale University School of Medicine, said in an interview.
But Krause said limiting the number of stem cell lines with which federally funded researchers could work meant there might not be sufficient genetic diversity in the cell reservoirs.
``GOOD ENOUGH FOR SOME PURPOSES''
``We need to see a variety of these in order to fully understand the applications to multiple different diseases,'' Krause told Reuters. ``It will be good enough for some purposes. But it will be limited by its very nature of being a limited number of cell lines. What we can do with them will be limited.''
Dr. Neil Theise, a stem cell researcher at New York University Medical Center, warned, ``If this remains the decision for the long term, I think it could significantly inhibit our ability to get the sort of therapies that we're hoping for.''
Dr. Douglas Melton, chairman of the cellular and molecular biology department at Harvard University, said Thursday that he had not been aware of as many stem cell lines as the president said existed.
``The 60 cell lines is news to me,'' Melton said. ``I presume that many of them must have been derived by private institutes or companies, and whether they will be made available to (the National Institutes of Health (news - web sites)) for federally funded researchers without restriction is an important question to ask.''
Federal funds cannot be used to pay for creating stem cell lines because U.S. law bars funding research that harms a human embryo. The lines are thus largely in private hands, and many experts had believed that far fewer than 60 existed, with estimates ranging from fewer than a dozen to 30.
PIONEER IS ``VERY PLEASED''
Dr. James Thomson, the University of Wisconsin researcher who isolated the first human stem cells in 1998, said in a statement on Thursday: ``I am very pleased that President Bush made a decision that will allow human embryonic stem cell research to go forward. The proposed compromise will slow the research, but the compromise is better than halting the research entirely.''
Paralyzed actor Christopher Reeve, head of the Christopher Reeve Paralysis Foundation, which supports research seeking a cure for paralysis, said in an interview, ``I'm very pleased that it wasn't a complete no, but I really think we must go further.''
John Rogers, education and advocacy director for the Parkinson's Action Network, said, ``While we have concerns about the number of lines, we're very pleased that the president has announced that we're moving forward with the research, and we think it gives hope to millions of Americans.''
Stem cells are versatile primitive cells with the ability to transform themselves into many other types of cells, such as those found in the brain, heart, bones, muscles and skin. Embryonic stem cells have been able to become virtually any cell type in the body, while so-called adult stem cells, harbored in the bodies of adults and children, have shown more limitations.
Scientists hope to harness the cells' transformational powers to devise revolutionary treatments for a variety of diseases, using stem cells to regenerate healthy tissue to replace tissue damaged by disease or injury.
They hope to use the technique against juvenile diabetes, Alzheimer's disease (news - web sites), Parkinson's disease (news - web sites), stroke, heart attack, multiple sclerosis, severe burns, spinal cord injuries and other conditions. |
