A recent court ruling could end public funding for embryonic stem cell research in the US.
Stem cell research in the United States was dealt a recent blow when a US district judge ruled that public funding for embryonic stem cell research violated federal law. Judge Royce Lamberth found that congressional statutes, which prohibited federal funding going to any research where embryos were destroyed, applied to research on embryo-derived stem cell lines. This is a surprise, as President Obama’s executive order on stem cells was thought to be a definitive opening of the field in the US. Now, stem cell scientists must scramble to determine which, if any, of their research must not use public funds in order to comply with the new ruling. Embryonic stem cells may be key to finding new treatments for painful and life threatening diseases and this decision may slow such research in the United States for years to come.
A single embryo’s stem cells can be replicated many times over, allowing each stem cell to generate a ‘line’ of cells that many different scientists can use in their research. For a time it was believed that research on pre-existing embryonic stem cell lines did not violate federal prohibitions on research that destroys embryos. As such, George W. Bush signed an executive order limiting public funding for exploration of embryonic stem cells to just 21 lines. Obama expanded that to 75 lines and opened up the possibility of new lines being created through parental consent. Both of these decisions are now in question.
The court case in question is a lawsuit filed by several parties against the federal government to stop public funding of embryonic stem cells. Those parties were led by the Alliance Defense Fund (a conservative Christian legal group) but included an adoption agency, embryos (on their behalf), and two scientists. Earlier court rulings required plaintiffs to have a clear material affect by the executive order, so all but the two scientists were stripped from the case. These two researchers, Dr. James Sherley of Boston Biomedical Research Institute and Dr. Theresa Deisher of AVM Biotechnology, argued that the expansion of public funding for embryonic stem cells would increase competition and limit the funding for their adult stem cell research. Judge Lamberth agreed that there was a clear material consequence for public funding of embryonic stem cells on the two scientists, and further decided that the embryonic stem cell lines were still research that was based on the destruction of embryos. As such, he has blocked all further public funding of embryonic stem cells.
Why is this a problem? Embryonic stem cell research may hold the promise to all sorts of amazing treatments. They could repair spinal injury, grow new retinas, or treat diseases like Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s. Many felt that the restrictions put in place by George Bush in 2001 horribly damaged the state of US research in the field. Now, public funding could be even more limited in scope.
Yes, private funding for embryonic stem cells will still be there, but we still need public funding. Greater diversity of financing creates greater diversity in research. Public funds would also help research in to diseases whose cures would not be profitable.
You could also argue that research into adult stem cells has had proven successes and that we don’t need embryonic stem cell lines. It is unlikely, however, that adult stem cells will ever be able to replace embryonic stem cells in all forms of research. Just as we need a diversity in funding, we need a diversity in approaches. We need to explore both embryonic and adult stem cells to have the best chances of finding new treatments.
Judge Lamberth’s ruling may be detrimental to US scientific development, but it may also be a correct interpretation of federal law. Those interested in public funding for embryonic stem cell research may eventually need to champion new legislation to explicitly permit such experiments (legislatures may be working on such a bill now). Until that occurs we may be mired in executive orders, court battles, and public debates long after other nations have developed the science more fully. China, for example, has been advancing undisturbed in the field for years. Until the US makes up its mind about embryonic stem cells we are likely to continue falling further behind the global scientific community.
[image credit: Wikicommons (modified)]
[source: AP, NY Times]
Comments
The title of this article is blatantly false. The use of taxpayer money to fund embryonic stem cell was struck down, it is perfectly legal to perform such research on private funding.I am an atheist, but I don’t think that gives me the right to take money by force from people of faith and use it for something they consider detestable.Besides which, embryonic stem cells are no good. They have much higher incidence of rejection of mutating into cancer. You should use stem cells produced from the cells of the individual to be treated. The technology to do so has been around for several years already. People are treated for lung disease and other conditions with stem cells produced from their own adult cells (resulting in 100% genetically identical cells, greatly reducing rejection and other complications)
An Educational note:
ADULT STEM CELL RESEARCH is significantly different from embryonic stem cell research with embryonic stem cell research yielding NO CURES, NONE, since its inception while ADULT STEM CELL RESEARCH has yielded significant advances with regard to the Heart, Bone Marrow and other. Don’t be mislead by complicated scientific jargon or misleading terminology which tries to counter simple questions. Be specific about the research study, ADULT STEM CELL / embryonic stem cell and not a general heading of stem cell research. The public generally does not make or know this distinction and thus is unaware of the truth and the facts.
jc
An Educational note:
ADULT STEM CELL RESEARCH is significantly different from embryonic stem cell research with embryonic stem cell research yielding NO CURES, NONE, since its inception while ADULT STEM CELL RESEARCH has yielded significant advances with regard to the Heart, Bone Marrow and other. Don’t be mislead by complicated scientific jargon or misleading terminology which tries to counter simple questions. Be specific about the research study, ADULT STEM CELL / embryonic stem cell and not a general heading of stem cell research. The public generally does not make or know this distinction and thus is unaware of the truth and the facts.
jc
Hooked on Prescription Drugs – Half of US Took at least One Prescription Drug in Previous Month
$238 Billion Industry
Prescription drug were a $234.1billion industry in 2008. The number is certainly higher today. Are pharmaceutical companies interested in curing anything or just treating the symptoms?
http://tinyurl.com/2aknr4x
Hooked on Prescription Drugs – Half of US Took at least One Prescription Drug in Previous Month
$238 Billion Industry
Prescription drug were a $234.1billion industry in 2008. The number is certainly higher today. Are pharmaceutical companies interested in curing anything or just treating the symptoms?
http://tinyurl.com/2aknr4x
One judge and Christian right throw stem cell research into chaos
Now let us take a look at these two plaintiffs (whose personal biographies should have occupied a prominent place in every story about this decision.) James L. Sherley, the son of a Baptist minister, is now employed by the Boston Biomedical Reserach Institute in Boston. When he is not in his lab, he monitors Boston newspapers and inveighs against articles he views as favorable to abortion.
Theresa Deisher is the founder of AVM Biotechnology in Seattle. The company intials, by the way, stand for “Ave Maria.” In many interviews, she said she was a “radical feminist” in college but later returned to her Catholic roots. She is opposed to embryonic stem cell research not only because of her faith but because she does not think the research will work. (Of course it won’t work if it never receives adequate financing. In an apocalypic interview with the National Catholic Register, she predicted that “in the early human trials we will probably see a short-term benefit, but it will be followed by devastation and disaster.” I can just hear her laughing at a prediction in, say, 1950, that one day it would be possible to transplant kidneys and hearts from one body into another. Why, any fool could see that organ transplants would turn patients into Frankenstein’s monsters!
Second, liberals and anyone, of whatever political persuasion, who values free inquiry, ought to think twice before they decide to sit out the mid-term elections because they are disappointed in Obama. Think about the alternative. Many of the right-whiners running for Congress this fall are representatives of every force of anti-rationalism in this country. They prove it over and over again. This lawsuit, which in the best-case scenario will only have a temporary chilling effect on embryonic stem cell research, is just one shot in the religious right’s unending war on reason.
http://newsweek.washingtonpost.com/onfaith/spirited_atheist/2010/08/one_judge_and_christian_right_throw_stem_cell_research_into_chaos.html#more
One judge and Christian right throw stem cell research into chaos
Now let us take a look at these two plaintiffs (whose personal biographies should have occupied a prominent place in every story about this decision.) James L. Sherley, the son of a Baptist minister, is now employed by the Boston Biomedical Reserach Institute in Boston. When he is not in his lab, he monitors Boston newspapers and inveighs against articles he views as favorable to abortion.
Theresa Deisher is the founder of AVM Biotechnology in Seattle. The company intials, by the way, stand for “Ave Maria.” In many interviews, she said she was a “radical feminist” in college but later returned to her Catholic roots. She is opposed to embryonic stem cell research not only because of her faith but because she does not think the research will work. (Of course it won’t work if it never receives adequate financing. In an apocalypic interview with the National Catholic Register, she predicted that “in the early human trials we will probably see a short-term benefit, but it will be followed by devastation and disaster.” I can just hear her laughing at a prediction in, say, 1950, that one day it would be possible to transplant kidneys and hearts from one body into another. Why, any fool could see that organ transplants would turn patients into Frankenstein’s monsters!
Second, liberals and anyone, of whatever political persuasion, who values free inquiry, ought to think twice before they decide to sit out the mid-term elections because they are disappointed in Obama. Think about the alternative. Many of the right-whiners running for Congress this fall are representatives of every force of anti-rationalism in this country. They prove it over and over again. This lawsuit, which in the best-case scenario will only have a temporary chilling effect on embryonic stem cell research, is just one shot in the religious right’s unending war on reason.
http://newsweek.washingtonpost.com/onfaith/spirited_atheist/2010/08/one_judge_and_christian_right_throw_stem_cell_research_into_chaos.html#more
UNDO everything this President has accomplished over the past two years…
yeah right after we undo what W did the previous 8…
UNDO everything this President has accomplished over the past two years…
yeah right after we undo what W did the previous 8…
Wait till the cures with stem cells come out and people still gonna say the God saved us….
Wait till the cures with stem cells come out and people still gonna say the God saved us….
New stem cell frontier: treating dying babies
Keirstead sees this is a pioneering era for human embryonic stem cells, with researchers around the world staking their claims to various forms of treatment, while technology and medical techniques blossom.
Human embryonic stem cells can potentially become any type of cell in the body.
“Clearly, they have the potential to treat every disorder,” he said. “This is the beginning. We are going to look back at this as history-changing times.”
But because the stem cells are derived from human embryos they provoke controversy, even though the early-stage embryos used in the research are otherwise destined to be discarded by fertility clinics.
“This tissue would be destroyed anyway,” he said.
http://www.ocregister.com/news/stem-263612-keirstead-treatment.html
New stem cell frontier: treating dying babies
Keirstead sees this is a pioneering era for human embryonic stem cells, with researchers around the world staking their claims to various forms of treatment, while technology and medical techniques blossom.
Human embryonic stem cells can potentially become any type of cell in the body.
“Clearly, they have the potential to treat every disorder,” he said. “This is the beginning. We are going to look back at this as history-changing times.”
But because the stem cells are derived from human embryos they provoke controversy, even though the early-stage embryos used in the research are otherwise destined to be discarded by fertility clinics.
“This tissue would be destroyed anyway,” he said.
http://www.ocregister.com/news/stem-263612-keirstead-treatment.html
I guess the opponents of embryonic stem cell researchers forgot about umbilical cord discarded stem cells. Why not have public funding for this??? There going to be destroyed anyway???? DUH!!!!!!!!All the conservative christian groups are no better than Muslim extremists . ITS a certain death penalty for very sick and suffering from terminal diseases that might be treated or cured . Thats why i no longer attend church and after being molested by two priests 30 years ago. Priests are f@#$%^ phedophiles!!!!!!!
The truth is that Christian theology, like every other theology, is
not only opposed to the scientific spirit; it is also opposed to all
other attempts at rational thinking. Not by accident does Genesis 3
make the father of knowledge a serpent — slimy, sneaking and
abominable. Since the earliest days the church, as an organization,
has thrown itself violently against every effort to liberate the body
and mind of man. It has been, at all times and everywhere, the
habitual and incorrigible defender of bad governments, bad laws, bad
social theories, bad institutions. It was, for centuries, an apologist
for slavery, as it was the apologist for the divine right of kings.
—H.L.Mencken
I guess the opponents of embryonic stem cell researchers forgot about umbilical cord discarded stem cells. Why not have public funding for this??? There going to be destroyed anyway???? DUH!!!!!!!!All the conservative christian groups are no better than Muslim extremists . ITS a certain death penalty for very sick and suffering from terminal diseases that might be treated or cured . Thats why i no longer attend church and after being molested by two priests 30 years ago. Priests are f@#$%^ phedophiles!!!!!!!
The truth is that Christian theology, like every other theology, is
not only opposed to the scientific spirit; it is also opposed to all
other attempts at rational thinking. Not by accident does Genesis 3
make the father of knowledge a serpent — slimy, sneaking and
abominable. Since the earliest days the church, as an organization,
has thrown itself violently against every effort to liberate the body
and mind of man. It has been, at all times and everywhere, the
habitual and incorrigible defender of bad governments, bad laws, bad
social theories, bad institutions. It was, for centuries, an apologist
for slavery, as it was the apologist for the divine right of kings.
—H.L.Mencken
I have been discussing the judge’s ruling extensively on my blog this week. Researchers such as myself in California are extremely fortunate to have access to CIRM funding, which remains unaffected by the judge’s ruling. However, many of us need federal funding too, and what is bad for the stem cell field is bad for all researchers, regardless of location. It is also bad for millions of patients.
I am not a lawyer, but I do not think the judge’s ruling was sound. The particular weak part was saying his ruling does not harm federally funded ES cell researchers since we can still apply for private funding, yet he says the adult stem cell researchers are harmed by having to compete for federal money with us. This is a fatal flaw in his ruling because according to his logic, why don’t the adult stem cell researchers also just apply for private funding and hence not be harmed by the alleged competition they face for federal funds?
Paul
Sound/unsound?.. what do you really think is going on here?…some major trials are going on right now….and now this?…after 8 years of W?..this is pathetic!
I wish all this research was moved somewhere hospitable with ample funding to get results like this for more people.
A father’s reaction to the embryonic stem cell injunction
http://scopeblog.stanford.edu/archives/2010/08/childrens-hospi.html
I have been discussing the judge’s ruling extensively on my blog this week. Researchers such as myself in California are extremely fortunate to have access to CIRM funding, which remains unaffected by the judge’s ruling. However, many of us need federal funding too, and what is bad for the stem cell field is bad for all researchers, regardless of location. It is also bad for millions of patients.
I am not a lawyer, but I do not think the judge’s ruling was sound. The particular weak part was saying his ruling does not harm federally funded ES cell researchers since we can still apply for private funding, yet he says the adult stem cell researchers are harmed by having to compete for federal money with us. This is a fatal flaw in his ruling because according to his logic, why don’t the adult stem cell researchers also just apply for private funding and hence not be harmed by the alleged competition they face for federal funds?
Paul
Sound/unsound?.. what do you really think is going on here?…some major trials are going on right now….and now this?…after 8 years of W?..this is pathetic!
I wish all this research was moved somewhere hospitable with ample funding to get results like this for more people.
A father’s reaction to the embryonic stem cell injunction
http://scopeblog.stanford.edu/archives/2010/08/childrens-hospi.html
Like my fellow Berger in this thread (No relation, that I know of) I think anyone objecting to embryonic stem cells should just be allowed to “opt-out” of any advances they end up producing. I choose not to benefit from any church programs offered, these people who object should choose not to benefit from any scientific benefits which may come about.
Would they get to “opt out” of paying for it too? They don’t get to force you to pay for their church programs . Perhaps we should make all non-essential government operations “opt-in”? I’m all for it.
I would like to opt out of
Faith Based Funding Initiatives
http://www.hhs.gov/fbci/funding/
Oh and I would like to opt out of the war in Afganistan and Iraq and I would like to opt out of paying for Congressmen’s Super Duper Health Care among other things then.
Like my fellow Berger in this thread (No relation, that I know of) I think anyone objecting to embryonic stem cells should just be allowed to “opt-out” of any advances they end up producing. I choose not to benefit from any church programs offered, these people who object should choose not to benefit from any scientific benefits which may come about.
Would they get to “opt out” of paying for it too? They don’t get to force you to pay for their church programs . Perhaps we should make all non-essential government operations “opt-in”? I’m all for it.
I would like to opt out of
Faith Based Funding Initiatives
http://www.hhs.gov/fbci/funding/
Oh and I would like to opt out of the war in Afganistan and Iraq and I would like to opt out of paying for Congressmen’s Super Duper Health Care among other things then.
Grim reality of the impact of judge’s ES cell decision is emerging
The bottom line is that as a country we are, temporarily at least, pushed into a state worse than that during Bush’s 8 years. Researchers in other countries have told me that just cannot understand what is going on and why the U.S. would do this.
The big question is how long will this destructive limbo last. Every week, every month that might pass, will severely damage the ES cell research field and hurt millions of patients who could benefit from the research.
http://www.ipscell.com/?s=grim-reality-of-the-impact-of-judges-es-cell-decision-is-emerging
Grim reality of the impact of judge’s ES cell decision is emerging
The bottom line is that as a country we are, temporarily at least, pushed into a state worse than that during Bush’s 8 years. Researchers in other countries have told me that just cannot understand what is going on and why the U.S. would do this.
The big question is how long will this destructive limbo last. Every week, every month that might pass, will severely damage the ES cell research field and hurt millions of patients who could benefit from the research.
http://www.ipscell.com/?s=grim-reality-of-the-impact-of-judges-es-cell-decision-is-emerging
They can use all the adult and umbilical stem cells they want.
They can use all the adult and umbilical stem cells they want.
Now I am a person of faith but I must ask
Does he knows the number of lives he’s risking?
Is he intelligent enough to understand separation of church and state?
Isn’t this going to put America even further behind than it already is?
Now I am a person of faith but I must ask
Does he knows the number of lives he’s risking?
Is he intelligent enough to understand separation of church and state?
Isn’t this going to put America even further behind than it already is?
We should pass a law that anyone who campaigned against or actively tried to suppress stem cell research should not be allowed to benefit from said research.
We should pass a law that anyone who campaigned against or actively tried to suppress stem cell research should not be allowed to benefit from said research.