Jobs are at risk, patients are angry, and billions in profits may flow to Asia and elsewhere in the aftermath of this week's injunction on federally funded embryonic stem cell research. Scientists say the move is so far reaching it could cripple research that's been in progress for over a decade:
But this ruling goes way beyond Obama. It voids Bush's stem-cell policy, too. And it does so on flimsy grounds with sloppy reasoning. The ruling relies on the ...
Even one of the socially conservative plaintiffs reportedly claims they didn't intend for that to happen:
Ron Stoddart, executive director of Nightlight Christian Adoptions ... says the suit was not intended to put a stop to all government funded embryonic stem cell studies, only to halt the federal endorsement of research that encourages future and continued destruction of human embryos for scientific purposes.
Embryonic stem cell lines are made from little balls of about 50 to 100 cells, about the size of period at the end of this sentence, created at in vitro fertilization clinics called blastocysts. Thousands are disposed of every year, a handful are saved for research into regenerative medicine to treat all kinds of disease and injury. In 2001, Bush approved research using only lines already in existence, saying the "life and death decision had already been made" on them, but restricted federal research funds for new lines. Obama reversed that policy in 2009 saying new lines could be used by researchers funded in whole or in part by government organizations like the National Institute of Health.
Opinions differ, but this week's ruling is being interpreted by some scientists as threatening all work on embryonic stem cells lines that enjoy a single dollar of federal funding, including those approved in 2001. if it's not resolved quickly, thousands of existing experiments might be in limbo, and post graduate programs could be frozen in their tracks. Some researchers aren't sure if completed or near complete research can be used in papers or used as a foundation for promising privately funded efforts. Biotech stocks took a hit in trading as investors realized the decision could affect commercial applications and clinical trials already approved or in progress. The Justice Department has said they will appeal the decision.