Comments on To the People: Stem Cell Smoke and Mirrors

Here's a thought. Perhaps the bigotry shown in th...

2005-07-25T05:26:00.000-04:00

Here's a thought. Perhaps the bigotry shown in the US has pushed the money out of the private sector? That perhaps there's no-one willing to invest because they know there'll be wack-jobs screaming outside their home?

And perhaps, the money has gone to the UK? And the rest of the western world, where people aren't quite so backward?

Last I checked, "the moral repugnance crowd" had n...

2005-07-23T03:25:00.000-04:00

Last I checked, "the moral repugnance crowd" had never expressed any problem with stem cells from non-embryonic sources. In a successful, if disingenuous strategy, the pro-ESC crowd has confused the issue by pretending that:

1. All stem cell research has had its funding cut
2. Cutting federal funding is equivalent to banning
3. Embryonic stem cell research has showed as much (if not more) promise in treating disease as has research on stem cells from other sources

All of these are, of course, false. But the more people think they're true, the more political traction the pro-ESC crowd has.

Sure, investors could be scared off from Embryonic...

2005-07-22T18:17:00.000-04:00

Sure, investors could be scared off from Embryonic stem cells, particularly since it is not clear that adult or umbilical stem cells won't be able to do the same.
The moral repugnance crowd is going to have a lot less traction with those types of stem cells, as well as being a much smaller crowd.

A very good point. Investors could be scared.

2005-07-22T15:11:00.000-04:00

A very good point. Investors could be scared.

I'm sympathetic, but I can't help but think there'...

2005-07-22T14:10:00.000-04:00

I'm sympathetic, but I can't help but think there's more to this. You quote:

Private investors and venture capitalists are not investing in embryonic stem cell research because they perceive it to be a pipe dream unlikely to produce any progress and, hence, investment returns, in any reasonable time frame ... [I]f embryonic stem cell research had real promise, private investment would be overflowing into biotech companies.

But isn't it just as likely that investors expect the fruits of stem cell research to be banned or otherwise made legally unable to produce returns? If I were an investor in such companies, that would certainly be my fear. When stem-cell based treatments are ready for prime-time, demand for useful stem-cell lines will go through the roof, and the moral-repugnance crowd will be harder and harder to keep down. It seems likely to me that any successful use of stem cells will immediately result in their being banned. It is not unreasonable for investors to expect a signal from Congress -- in the form of research funding -- before they invest in a technology they otherwise regard as likely to be banned.