In an article fronting today's Washington Post, Rick Weiss gives us a preview of the rhetorical struggle that is sure to be part of this week's House stem cell debate, namely the efforts by research opponents to spin the amniotic stem cell study as a "middle way" compromise solution to overturning Bush's flawed stem cell policy.
Atala and other scientists emphasized that they don't believe the cells will make embryonic stem cells irrelevant. "There's not going to be one shoe that fits all," said Robert Lanza, scientific director at Advanced Cell Technology in Worcester, Mass. "We're going to have to see which ones are most useful for which clinical conditions."George Daley, a Harvard stem cell researcher, echoed that sentiment. "They are not a replacement for embryonic stem cells," he said. But in the past, even hints that non-embryonic cells might have medical potential similar to embryonic ones have complicated the political push to expand federal funding for the controversial field. And accordingly, opponents quickly pounced on the new results.
"This is wonderful news," said Richard Doerflinger, deputy director of pro-life activities at the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, which opposes research that depends on embryo destruction. "It doesn't require harming anyone or destroying life at any stage."
Comments
I fell the zeal over this new result is unjustified.
Read the paper and the previous papers from this group. These cells are not particularly novel, nor were the experiments, many have been performed before. Further, the big totipotency experiments could have been performed but for some reason were not. Combine that with the political interest in making a fuss about adult stem cells and we've got another pointless distraction. Every time one of these lines comes along it has a great deal of promise that frequently fades with further study. And, these cells don't even seem as interesting as the parthanogenic ES cells or the spermatogonial stem cells discovered in the last year.
it's all hype.
Posted by: quitter | January 8, 2007 7:30 PM
If Rick Weiss is your source for info, you're in dire need of some injections of standard logic cells into the tissue of the Washington Post, his favorite haunt and bully pulpit for ESCs.
And if the ATCW REALLY and truly and honestly can show that the research results of ESCs are all that swimmingly swell, then they wouldn't have their hands out for money from their uncle.
Uncle Sam, that is.
Adult stem cells have been treating a large swath of ailments for decades. They are hypeless for other reasons.
-W.T.
Posted by: Wakefield Tolbert | January 8, 2007 9:37 PM