Embryonic Stem Cell Research Kicked Away Again From The Federal Trough
Whenever someone’s pushing an issue too hard, especially an issue where money will change hands, it’s worth looking into who will benefit, usually monetarily, from the issue. Such is the case with the recent push through of the embryonic stem cell bill that Congress passed and for which Bush finally decided to crack open his veto pen.
It’s safe to say that the overall response of the press has been negative. That Congress so quickly and so openly passed it is also a bit of a surprise. Bush, in one of the few Reaganite things he’s done, openly and showily vetoed it. Now, this is not a pro-life/pro-abortion piece. That’s an issue for another time and when I can bother answering the hate mail. It goes beyond that. Although there certainly are considerations on both sides to that effect, and it does affect the motivation of many, I'd like to discuss the economic side of this.
Consider, if you will, what was actually the issue. The issue wasn’t “the big bad Bushies won’t let us experiment on embryonic cells”. Never was. There’s nothing stopping researchers from experimenting with fetal tissue. What’s been at stake is federal grant money. The researchers behind embryonic stem cell research are primarily biologists, not doctors. They have been unable to secure significant private investment in embryonic research. Some might argue that the investors have moral issues with it, but I’m guessing it’s just a matter of plain old fashioned results.
See, there are two primary forms of stem cell research. There’s embryonic, where they experiment with stem cells from fetal tissue and adult stem cells from…well, guess. Blood stem cells, umbilical and placenta cells and some from the bone marrow are common choices.
The adult stem cell research has been around for decades, shown great promise and even some success in treatments for type 1 diabetes, spinal cord injuries, repairing heart muscle, fighting several forms of cancer, fighting immunodeficiency conditions, and the recognized and close potential to do much more. There is a rather lengthy list. Some human experiments have even been conducted and people who could not walk before due to spinal cord injuries are walking now because of injections of adult stem cells. Adult stem cells are easy to harvest, in many cases from the patient who will be the beneficiary of the research or from the placenta or umbilical cord blood.
Embryonic require a steady supply of fetuses. Guess where they get those from. Embryonic stem cell research also hosts the dubious distinction of showing significant, real promise in curing exactly ZERO ailments, diseases or conditions. There is the occasional snake-oil promise that it might one day, if we’re lucky, find some way to cure Parkinson’s or Alzheimer’s. So far, there is no evidence that it will. In fact, tests that have been done with live cells thus far have either met in total failure through immune system rejection or in massive tumor growth.
Money from investors only goes where there are results, and as you can see, embryonic research hasn’t really delivered. So they go to feed at the federal trough, and Congress and the media seem more than willing to oblige. After all, it’s only your money.
What you watched in the news and in Congress was a well laid-out fleecing of the American taxpayer, and amazingly Bush headed it off. Pay no attention to the charlatans like John Edwards, former Senator, trial lawyer and well-known “baby-whisperer” who argue that people like Christopher Reeve will get up out of their wheel chairs and walk again if only the federal government wouldn’t be so stingy with your money and support a hack research field. If private investors won’t put money towards it, there’s a good chance there’s nothing to it. Maybe someone should mention that on NBC Nightly News.
Whenever someone’s pushing an issue too hard, especially an issue where money will change hands, it’s worth looking into who will benefit, usually monetarily, from the issue. Such is the case with the recent push through of the embryonic stem cell bill that Congress passed and for which Bush finally decided to crack open his veto pen.
It’s safe to say that the overall response of the press has been negative. That Congress so quickly and so openly passed it is also a bit of a surprise. Bush, in one of the few Reaganite things he’s done, openly and showily vetoed it. Now, this is not a pro-life/pro-abortion piece. That’s an issue for another time and when I can bother answering the hate mail. It goes beyond that. Although there certainly are considerations on both sides to that effect, and it does affect the motivation of many, I'd like to discuss the economic side of this.
Consider, if you will, what was actually the issue. The issue wasn’t “the big bad Bushies won’t let us experiment on embryonic cells”. Never was. There’s nothing stopping researchers from experimenting with fetal tissue. What’s been at stake is federal grant money. The researchers behind embryonic stem cell research are primarily biologists, not doctors. They have been unable to secure significant private investment in embryonic research. Some might argue that the investors have moral issues with it, but I’m guessing it’s just a matter of plain old fashioned results.
See, there are two primary forms of stem cell research. There’s embryonic, where they experiment with stem cells from fetal tissue and adult stem cells from…well, guess. Blood stem cells, umbilical and placenta cells and some from the bone marrow are common choices.
The adult stem cell research has been around for decades, shown great promise and even some success in treatments for type 1 diabetes, spinal cord injuries, repairing heart muscle, fighting several forms of cancer, fighting immunodeficiency conditions, and the recognized and close potential to do much more. There is a rather lengthy list. Some human experiments have even been conducted and people who could not walk before due to spinal cord injuries are walking now because of injections of adult stem cells. Adult stem cells are easy to harvest, in many cases from the patient who will be the beneficiary of the research or from the placenta or umbilical cord blood.
Embryonic require a steady supply of fetuses. Guess where they get those from. Embryonic stem cell research also hosts the dubious distinction of showing significant, real promise in curing exactly ZERO ailments, diseases or conditions. There is the occasional snake-oil promise that it might one day, if we’re lucky, find some way to cure Parkinson’s or Alzheimer’s. So far, there is no evidence that it will. In fact, tests that have been done with live cells thus far have either met in total failure through immune system rejection or in massive tumor growth.
Money from investors only goes where there are results, and as you can see, embryonic research hasn’t really delivered. So they go to feed at the federal trough, and Congress and the media seem more than willing to oblige. After all, it’s only your money.
What you watched in the news and in Congress was a well laid-out fleecing of the American taxpayer, and amazingly Bush headed it off. Pay no attention to the charlatans like John Edwards, former Senator, trial lawyer and well-known “baby-whisperer” who argue that people like Christopher Reeve will get up out of their wheel chairs and walk again if only the federal government wouldn’t be so stingy with your money and support a hack research field. If private investors won’t put money towards it, there’s a good chance there’s nothing to it. Maybe someone should mention that on NBC Nightly News.
posted by Rob Beck | 9:24 PM
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