Wednesday, August 23, 2006

Stem Cell Solution?

From the New York Times:

"Biologists have developed a technique for establishing colonies of human embryonic stem cells without destroying embryos, a method that, if confirmed in other laboratories, would seem to remove the principal objection to stem cell research."

Embryonic stem cell supporters say this new method of performing a technique on an embryo when it is two days old leaves "no rational reason left to oppose the research." But opponents of embryonic stem cell research still have objections because the technique involves in-vitro fertilization.

Nicholas Wade Reports:

"Ronald M. Green, an ethicist at Dartmouth College and an adviser to Advanced Cell Technology, said he hoped the new method 'provides a way of ending the impasse about federal funding for this research.'"

"He said he believed the method should be seen as compatible with the Dickey-Wicker amendment, the Congressional action that blocked the use of federal funds for research in which a human embryo is destroyed or exposed to undue risk."

NBC's Science Correspondent Robert Bazell explains there is skepticism about this new method because this company has made "headline-making claims before," and while some have panned out, others have not.

You can watch his explanation on Wednesday's Nightly News segment by clicking here.

2 comments:

David Catanese said...

Today was my day off, but KY3 did send a crew to Talent's event and there was a story on the 6 p.m. broadcast.

So while you are free to gripe about the time KY3 devoted to the story, the angle pursued and the placement within the newscast, to say there was nothing on our air about it is simply inaccurate.

Takes two wings to fly straight said...

The Missouri stem cell initiative has anything to do with funding and whether it is or should be public or private. Right now there is no public funding for it in Misssouri. The question is whether private business can perform stem cell research with their own money.