Posted on 12/03/2006 9:46:49 AM PST by NormsRevenge
The meeting was almost over when Roman Reed steered his wheelchair to the microphone.
On the table before him sat a 149-page book of budget charts and timetables, the first concrete outline of what California's voter-approved stem cell institute plans to accomplish in its 10-year lifespan.
"I want to thank you from the bottom of my heart," Reed said to the institute's staff and 29-member oversight board in October. "I promised my son that one day I would be able to walk, stand next to him and go hold my wife's hand. And seeing this road map to cures, I know that this will come true."
The room at Los Angeles' Luxe Hotel thundered with applause for the Fremont resident, who broke his neck while playing college football in 1994.
Despite the enthusiasm of Reed and his audience, the book offered no promise of a cure for his paralysis.
Two years after California voters authorized $3 billion in bonds to fund stem cell research, the institute created to oversee the enterprise has just begun what experts see as a long and slow scientific journey. Even with the $150-million state loan approved recently to kick-start work stalled by legal challenges, there are no breakthroughs in sight. Gone are the allusions to healing such afflictions as spinal cord injuries and Parkinson's and Alzheimer's diseases that dominated the 2004 campaign for Proposition 71. ...
--snip--
Instead, the top goal is to establish, in principle, that a therapy developed from human embryonic stem cells can "restore function for at least one disease."
--snip--
In addition, the institute hopes to have treatments for two to four more diseases in development within the decade.
"The Prop. 71 campaign went beyond the line of responsible political rhetoric," he said. "If there are therapies, they're decades out."
(Excerpt) Read more at latimes.com ...
A bottomless pit of money for the liberals to squander in the name of helping.
Just like Rob Reiner's extra 50 cent tax on cigarettes from a few years ago. (and, no, I'm not a smoker)
Yup, sounds like gullible California to me!
All this effort and money is "meant for research" with embryonic stems cells, not (FR keyword) adult stem cells which are already providing relief for what appear to be a growing number of afflictions.
fyi
LAT 'swat' on CIRM and embryonic stem cell research expectations being lowered.
The only weay to counter this crap is for the right to wheel out crippled popel who oppose embryonic research & tout the virtues of adult stem cells- Sadly, we're just not seeing much of that while the left baby murderers are getting the voice of the meida. http://sacredscoop.com
What's truly amazing is that nobody ever saw this coming.
(Yes, it's sarcasm)
Umm, let me rephrase that... seeing as restoring function for a disease doesn't sound very promising. What disease are they looking to resurrect?
Instead, the top goal is to establish, in principle, that a therapy developed from human embryonic stem cells can be used to "restore function for at least one disease." justify continued funding.
There, that's more like it.
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