A federal court ruled against two scientists who sued the federal government to stop federal funding of embryonic stem cell research.
Interestingly, this was a fairly conservative court panel that nonetheless sided with the Obama administration and scientists who made the case that federal funding of embryonic stem cell research was not only legal, but also crucial to provide hope to millions of people suffering from diseases for which embryonic stem cell research is the most promising.
Adult stem cells are great and my own lab studies them too, but certain diseases such as neurological disorders and blindness as well as others are far more likely to be treated and/or cured by embryonic-based therapies. Adult stem cells are fantastic tools for healing, but they are not a panacea. That's a fantasy. Embryonic stem cells are also not a panacea, but they provide realistic future hope for a huge number of patients suffering from diseases or injuries that cannot be helped by today's medicine.
The court ruled that new research on already existing embryonic stem cell lines was not the same thing as the derivation of said lines (which sometimes occurred a decade or more earlier) that required the destruction of a few day old human blastocyst stage embryo.
The plaintiffs in this case, Drs. Sherley and Deisher, now only have one appeal left: to the Supreme Court. The Supremes may or may not choose to hear the case. There is reason for hope that this may be effectively the end of the line for these right wing extremists.
The bottom line is that this is a great day for patients and for science.
Interestingly, this was a fairly conservative court panel that nonetheless sided with the Obama administration and scientists who made the case that federal funding of embryonic stem cell research was not only legal, but also crucial to provide hope to millions of people suffering from diseases for which embryonic stem cell research is the most promising.
Adult stem cells are great and my own lab studies them too, but certain diseases such as neurological disorders and blindness as well as others are far more likely to be treated and/or cured by embryonic-based therapies. Adult stem cells are fantastic tools for healing, but they are not a panacea. That's a fantasy. Embryonic stem cells are also not a panacea, but they provide realistic future hope for a huge number of patients suffering from diseases or injuries that cannot be helped by today's medicine.
The court ruled that new research on already existing embryonic stem cell lines was not the same thing as the derivation of said lines (which sometimes occurred a decade or more earlier) that required the destruction of a few day old human blastocyst stage embryo.
The plaintiffs in this case, Drs. Sherley and Deisher, now only have one appeal left: to the Supreme Court. The Supremes may or may not choose to hear the case. There is reason for hope that this may be effectively the end of the line for these right wing extremists.
The bottom line is that this is a great day for patients and for science.
In other words, you can't believe a conservative simply did their job yet you would be surprised if people believed you are only able to do your job if you check with Democratic leadership first. Do you see how ridiculous it is? Why shouldn't left wing people say you, as a biologist, are for sale to ideology or money when it comes to vaccines, GMOs or the need to promote a government/corporate agenda to get grant money when you imply a judge is going to ordinarily put their ideology before their job and this ruling was somehow exceptional because they did not?