More on Stem Cells

After Nancy Reagan, one more Republican has broken ranks. The Governor of my home state of Kaa-Lee-Fawn-Ya is endorsing Proposition 71, a $3 billion dollar bond measure to fund human embryonic stem cell research.

The endorsement will also put him at odds with the state Republican Party, which officially opposes Proposition 71, and perhaps even the Bush administration - which has limited funding of the research. On the other hand, Schwarzenegger has said he supports the technology. His father-in-law, Sargent Shriver, is in the early grips of Alzheimer’s disease, which Proposition 71 supporters say could someday be treated by stem cells.

Stem cells are created in the first days after conception and are the building blocks of life. Some researchers hope to turn stem cells into replacement tissue to treat a variety of disease and injury. But many social conservatives oppose the research because it involves destroying microscopic embryos.[Governor endorses controversial stem cell proposition]

The Times Of India had an editorial on this issue and rightly points out

With such interest in stem cell research, it’s a matter of time before the European Union or even the Koreans become leaders in this field. Earlier this year, in a major breakthrough, a team of Korean scientists was able to create a line of human embryonic stem cells in a lab. Traditionally, Koreans are not seen to be at the cutting edge of research in science and technology. The US government’s involvement is not crucial to stem cell research. There are plenty of other countries which are more than willing to take the lead in this area[VIEW
Stem cell research and the American elections]

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