https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EuHnjDM-tys
Embryonic stem cells are best! No, adult stem cells are! De-differentiation! Transformation!
It's often hard to evaluate the competing claims made for stem cells, which – thanks to the necessity of destroying embryos to make embryonic stem cells – have been the scientific centerpiece of the culture wars for nearly a decade.
With research funding limited and politics at stake, the portrayal of the science – if not the science – has been skewed. Researchers themselves are the first to say that all types of stem cell research deserve funding, and that none are yet a magical regenerative bullet: but pundits and politicians have been quick to praise one type and downplay another.
But all that may soon come to an end, said University of Pennsylvania bioethicist Art Caplan.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a9WB_PXjTBo
Whoever wins the Presidential election, he said, is likely to increase funding for all forms of stem cell research.
Between federal funding and money spent by states and private companies, "there will be a lot of money on the table. The question is, who will deliver? In one sense, the ethics will take a back bench to the practical questions," he said. "It'll be an interesting time, and I think the science will now be the determinant."
But what about all the bioethicists, commentators and journalists who won't know what to do with themselves in the absence of ethical battles? Not to worry: ethics questions won't go away. They'll just shift.
"The next big ethics question isn't going to be whether cloning can be used. It's over when it's time to push some of the techniques into clinical experiments in humans. The expectations are high: many people with the diseases being targeted are very sick, terminally ill, and there will be enormous pressure to rush into trials," said Caplan.
He continued, "Ethically, we have to be on the lookout that we don't rush into human experiments and do some harm before these things have been developed and tried in animals."
Granting access to experimental drugs is already a controversial issue:
patients say they have nothing to lose, but companies worry that rushing could produce early failures that stunt the development of promising treatments.
There's plenty of questions, and no easy answers.
Videos: National Banana; McCaskill4Missouri
Note: I spoke to Caplan in the context of the latest regenerative medicine breakthrough: cellular transformation without the involvement of stem cells.
See Also:
- Going From One Cell Type To Another Without Using Stem Cells
- Despite Breakthroughs, Embryonic Stem Cells Still Needed
- Skin Cell-to-Stem Cell Alchemy 'Like Turning Lead Into Gold'
- Hacking the Hack of Stem Cell Reprogramming
- Bush Praises Skin to Stem Cell Breakthrough in State of the Union
- Too Soon to Give Up on Embryonic Stem Cells
- From Mice to Men: Tracing the Skin Cell to Stem Cell Path
WiSci 2.0: Brandon Keim's Twitter stream and Del.icio.us feed; Wired Science on Facebook.
