Monday, February 16, 2004
As Noted Previously...
America lags in stem cell research because, as the article states, of:
...the relative lack of money devoted to such research. The federal government limits what researchers can work on with taxpayer-funded grants. The Bush administration policy also forbids federal funding of all cloning research, even if the projects are intended solely to create stem cells like the South Koreans did.
“All the money for this work has dried up,” said Dr. Robert Lanza of Worcester, Mass.-based Advanced Cell Technology, the one U.S. company that has publicly attempted to clone for stem cells, albeit unsuccessfully. “We are lucky to still be in business. Our research has suffered immensely.”
Lanza said he’s been unable to work with human embryos since October because of the high cost of obtaining eggs and the company’s desperate need for investment.
As I noted in a previous post, if you believe that stem cell research is truly immoral, the falling behind in something immoral isn't so bad. Don't operate under the illusion, however, that America's moral problems with stem cell technology will have much of an effect on the wider world. They will continue charging forward in this new area of research, and companies devoted to this technology will be based in those countries.
America's competitive advantage has long been in high-technology, and the fastest growth these days is to be found in biotechnology, not the computing and hardware world in which America has proven historically dominant.
In other words, our decision to avoid stem cell technology WILL affect our economic future. That's not a trump card, but it is worth taking into consideration.
America lags in stem cell research because, as the article states, of:
...the relative lack of money devoted to such research. The federal government limits what researchers can work on with taxpayer-funded grants. The Bush administration policy also forbids federal funding of all cloning research, even if the projects are intended solely to create stem cells like the South Koreans did.
“All the money for this work has dried up,” said Dr. Robert Lanza of Worcester, Mass.-based Advanced Cell Technology, the one U.S. company that has publicly attempted to clone for stem cells, albeit unsuccessfully. “We are lucky to still be in business. Our research has suffered immensely.”
Lanza said he’s been unable to work with human embryos since October because of the high cost of obtaining eggs and the company’s desperate need for investment.
As I noted in a previous post, if you believe that stem cell research is truly immoral, the falling behind in something immoral isn't so bad. Don't operate under the illusion, however, that America's moral problems with stem cell technology will have much of an effect on the wider world. They will continue charging forward in this new area of research, and companies devoted to this technology will be based in those countries.
America's competitive advantage has long been in high-technology, and the fastest growth these days is to be found in biotechnology, not the computing and hardware world in which America has proven historically dominant.
In other words, our decision to avoid stem cell technology WILL affect our economic future. That's not a trump card, but it is worth taking into consideration.
