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Calif. Quietly Shifts Fruitless Embryo Research Funds to Adult Stem Cells - Investors knock waste...
Life Site News ^
| LOS ANGELES, California, January 29, 2010
| Kathleen Gilbert
Posted on 01/30/2010 6:52:20 AM PST by GonzoII

Friday January 29, 2010
Calif. Quietly Shifts Fruitless Embryo Research Funds to Adult Stem Cells
Investors knock waste on useless research
By Kathleen Gilbert LOS ANGELES, California, January 29, 2010 (LifeSiteNews.com) - California's Institute for Regenerative Medicine came into being five years ago, fueled by a conviction that the Bush administration's restriction on embryo-destructive research in the National Institutes of Health was stifling the progress of science. But after years of fruitless work, the Institute has now quietly diverted funds from embryonic stem cell research (ESCr) to adult stem cell research - which has already produced dozens of treatments and all-out cures for maladies ranging from spinal cord injury, to Alzheimer's, to type I diabetes. The California government - which is again teetering on the brink of bankruptcy - in 2004 passed the California Stem Cell Research and Cures Initiative, or Proposition 71. The initiative pumped $3 billion into research seeking some medical use for stem cells harvested from human embryos, which are killed in the process. But an editorial in the Los Angeles-based Investor's Business Daily magazine January 12 pointed out the abysmal failure of the state's massive investment in research that has procured no effective treatments to date. "Five years after a budget-busting $3 billion was allocated to embryonic stem cell research, there have been no cures, no therapies and little progress," notes the IBD editors. "ESCR has failed to deliver and backers of Prop 71 are admitting failure." The editors also called out the Institute for dissembling on the real source of progress among stem cell research. "Over the years ... when funding was needed, the phrase 'embryonic stem cells' was used. When actual progress was discussed, the word 'embryonic' was dropped because ESCR never got out of the lab," they write. "This is a classic bait-and-switch, an attempt to snatch success from the jaws of failure and take credit for discoveries and advances achieved by research Prop. 71 supporters once cavalierly dismissed." Although scientists and pro-life advocates have denounced the dead-end science of embryo research for years, the political and ethical furor surrounding embryonic research appears to have obscured the undeniable superiority of adult stem cells' track record. Not only have adult cells already produced dozens of treatments, but embryonic stem cells have been found prone to multiply out of control, causing tumors, and are less easily cultivated into specific types of tissue than their adult counterparts. Meanwhile, due to advances in induced pluripotent stem cells, adult cells are now capable of transforming into various types of cells an ability once thought to be held only by embryonic cells. Dr. Bernadine Healy, the director of the National Institutes of Health under the Bush administration, wrote in a March 2009 U.S. News & World Report column that "embryonic stem cells, once thought to hold the cure for Alzheimer's, Parkinson's and diabetes, are obsolete." The same month, however, President Obama reversed the Bush administration ban on taxpayer funding of embryo research, saying that "our government has forced what I believe is a false choice between sound science and moral values." The IBD editors concluded that "it is ESCR researchers who have politicized science and stood in the way of real progress. "We are pleased to see California researchers beginning to put science in its rightful place." See related LifeSiteNews.com coverage: Pentagon Invests $250 Million in Adult Stem Cell Research http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2008/sep/08091006.html Obama Unleashes Taxpayer Funds for Embryo-Destructive Research http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2009/mar/09030910.html
URL: http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2010/jan/10012908.html
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TOPICS: Culture/Society; News/Current Events; US: California
KEYWORDS: medical; moralabsolutes; oops; prolife; research; stemcells
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Do it quietly do loudly....JUST DO IT!!!
1
posted on
01/30/2010 6:52:21 AM PST
by
GonzoII
To: GonzoII
There is no hope with embryonic stem cell research. THe successes and progress has been made with ADULT stem cell research. Maybe, California is wising up?
2
posted on
01/30/2010 6:53:37 AM PST
by
nmh
(Intelligent people recognize Intelligent Design (God).)
To: GonzoII
California spent $3 Billion to slap President Bush in the face.
The slap was delivered, and the people of California got what they paid for.
Anything that happened after that was just scrapping over the spoils.
3
posted on
01/30/2010 6:57:31 AM PST
by
Haiku Guy
("I don't give them Hell / I tell the truth about them / And they think it's Hell" -- Harry Truman)
To: nmh
THe successes and progress has been made with ADULT stem cell research.
Yet the liberal media conveniently ignores this. Science - as pushed by the Far Left and their bootlicking media - is about solutions to non-existent problems (AGW) and solutions that do not work. As long as it drags everyone down. I was going to say Stalinists instead of Far Left, due to the Lysenkoism.
4
posted on
01/30/2010 6:58:40 AM PST
by
Fred Hayek
(From this point forward the Democratic Party will be referred to as the Communist Party)
To: GonzoII
Obviously the ESC researchers already knew this was a fruitless line of discovery but they went after the money anyway.
They all have nice new offices, plush couches, great new employee dining rooms ~ parking is good.
If you didn't have a bunch of third-rate bozos in charge of California the ESC people would be up on criminal fraud charges.
You will find my predictions in this regard in Free Republic archives from "way back when".
5
posted on
01/30/2010 7:07:55 AM PST
by
muawiyah
("Git Out The Way")
To: GonzoII
The same month, however, President Obama reversed the Bush administration ban on taxpayer funding of embryo research, saying that "our government has forced what I believe is a false choice between sound science and moral values." This is very frightening when you stop to think about it.
The idea that "science" should precede, direct, and ultimately trump morality is one of the foundational philosophical principles of Nazism. The science the Nazis followed was the bogus science (a brew concocted from Darwinism and racism), just as ESCR is bogus science.
That Zero can put his fingers in his ears and ignore the overwhelming scientific evidence that adult stem cells actually work and embryonic stem cells don't, is additionally frightening. The man is an ideologue of the first order; there is no trace of pragmatism in his makeup.
6
posted on
01/30/2010 7:14:35 AM PST
by
Campion
("President Barack Obama" is an anagram for "An Arab-backed imposter")
To: muawiyah
Did Prop 71 authorize use of funds for adult stem cell research? Does bait and switch mean the taxpayers may have a legal claim?
7
posted on
01/30/2010 7:14:55 AM PST
by
LALALAW
(one of the asses whose sick of our "ruling" classes)
To: Fred Hayek
“....adult stem cell research - which has already produced dozens of treatments and all-out cures for maladies ranging from spinal cord injury, to Alzheimer's, to type I diabetes.”
Whereas I entirely agree that the biology of embryonic stem cells is so complex that they are as likely or more likely to form a malignancy rather than the desired cell types, I don't agree at all with the blanket statement (above) made by the author about the ‘cures’ that have already resulted from adult stem cell research. Most of what we have seen as biological effects from adult stem cells in trials has been the result of growth factors and cytokines released from these cells, not from differentiation of these cells into desired cell types. At this point in time stem cell therapy remains a work in progress. I do believe that the field will advance to the point of multiple viable therapeutics, but it is not there yet.
To: GonzoII
Governor Corslime of NJ had several billion dollars earmarked for an embryonic stem cell research facility, to be built in Camden.
9
posted on
01/30/2010 7:28:43 AM PST
by
Carley
(Are you better off now than one year ago? HELL NO!!!!!)
To: LALALAW
Probably. I think you can go back to the language of Prop 71 and check it out.
So, I did just that.
Although the original official site showing the full text is no longer live (having been eliminated for some reason ~ to save money?) the legislation was tightly written so that no funds could be diverted from the bonds into other non-research initiatives ~ e.g. cutting the budget.
The deal is that the research organization created is effectively immune from state budgetary controls, and they can look at ESCs or ASCs or bicycle design, body trusses, or anything they decide.
The error here is that California gave $3 billion to a bunch of yahoos who are going to run wild with it, and when they're done they can come back to the state and demand more money to pay off the bonds.
I think Californians were quite stupid to vote for this thing, but, it turns out, they are quite stupid.
10
posted on
01/30/2010 7:35:07 AM PST
by
muawiyah
("Git Out The Way")
To: Haiku Guy
Not only did Calif do it as a slap to Bush but Odumbo issued a EO in March overturning Bush and odumbo dedicated our taxpayer money to embryonic stem cell research.
he did this as a slap to Bush also but he wasted OUR money to do it.
YOU can’t tell me obama wasn’t advised in march 09 that the research had failed. He did it to bash Bush
I hate that POS
11
posted on
01/30/2010 7:36:45 AM PST
by
RWGinger
To: GonzoII
12
posted on
01/30/2010 7:39:00 AM PST
by
nikos1121
(Praying for minus 24 today....at least minus 23...)
To: GonzoII
NO...must destroy embryos and advance the Progressive ideology. More funding and taxes needed for ESCR. Bush and his allied neocons will drag us back to the stone age with narrow minded bigoted views. Scientific researchers are being corrupted by Big Corporate greed controlled by the Republican machine pushing adult stem cell research with fraudulent results. We voted for Hope and Change but it does not come easy. We Progressives will lead the way and enlighten the path when comes the day that embryonic stem cell research will have saved humanity from all diseases. (;
13
posted on
01/30/2010 7:40:21 AM PST
by
tflabo
(Restore the Republic)
To: GonzoII
I recall that idiot Reagan, (the son) lambasting Bush at his father’s funeral about the joys of embryonic research...
welcome us to “modern medicine in the 21stcentury.”
I said Bush was the least qualified person to run for the presidency, then he slobbers all over Obama as being as qualified as his father.
Beware the left and what they tote.
14
posted on
01/30/2010 7:41:10 AM PST
by
nikos1121
(Praying for minus 24 today....at least minus 23...)
To: pieceofthepuzzle
A "true believer" if there ever was one ~ right here ~ today!
Look, ESCs haven't produced "stuff". ASC research has produced "stuff".
Children can understand that equation.
You can attribute the effects of ASCs to whatever you want ~ the folks who benefit probably won't be impressed just as long as the effects are real.
Regarding differentiation into specific cell types, that may or may not be required in order to trigger the generation of the enzymes and other chemicals you need ~ be nice to have new structural tissues for heart repairs that were, essentially, heart structural cells, but if they're some other kind of structural issues from elsewhere, as long as they produce the chemistry needed to live, thrive and "do stuff" in the heart, that's good. Besides, haven't you guys been arguing that it is so difficult to differentiate stem cells from ordinary cells it will not be possible to advance our scientific knowledge unless we completely control the process so that we know that all we have are stem cells.
Progress proceedes apace with or without such knowledge.
15
posted on
01/30/2010 7:41:37 AM PST
by
muawiyah
("Git Out The Way")
To: GonzoII
The video patient profiles featured on this site emphasize ADULT stem cell advances with the goal of informing and the hope of inspiring you to take action. These real-life stories represent a small sampling of people and the many diseases and conditions now being helped by adult stem cells naturally found in the human body. Stem Cell Research Facts illustrates how current adult treatments and therapies directly impact the lives of patients and their families today - as opposed to debating the merits of other types of stem cell research.
http://www.stemcellresearchfacts.org/
16
posted on
01/30/2010 7:53:35 AM PST
by
tflabo
(Restore the Republic)
To: muawiyah
“A “true believer” if there ever was one ~ right here ~ today!
Look, ESCs haven't produced “stuff”. ASC research has produced “stuff”.”
I'm a physician, and a scientist, and am not a ‘true believer’ in embryonic stem cells. My view has consistently been that for the same reason we don't understand enough to control the dedifferentiation that is a hallmark of cancer, we clearly do not understand enough to control the differentiation of pluripotent or omnipotent stem cells.
What I am stating is that the media, AND many scientific publications have hyped the current state of stem cell technology way beyond where it really is. There have been multiple clinical trials of stem cell therapy after myocardial infarction (i.e. heart attacks) that have yielded no significant results, or in the best circumstances very small effects. That's not to say that these approaches can't work. I believe they eventually will become viable therapeutic options, but they are not there yet.
The data are what the data are, and the science has to be evaluated objectively or we risk turning the stem cell field into the same type of politicized field as climatology has become.
For the record, the difference between an embryonic stem cell and an adult progenitor cell is epigenetic, not genetic. There are now many ways to induce pluripotency of adult stem cells and turn them into nearly the equivalent of an embryonic stem cell by essentially ‘stripping away’ their epigenetic programming. The bottom line is that this makes the use of embryonic stem cells to a large extent irrelevant. I think use and issue of embryonic stem cells will fade because of this progress. Cord blood is another interesting alternative.
So, in contradistinction to being a ‘true believer’ in embryonic stem cells, I actually believe they will become irrelevant. I just can't stand scientific or clinical hype. I think it's ultimately harmful.
To: GonzoII
18
posted on
01/30/2010 8:13:26 AM PST
by
jonno
(Having an opinion is not the same as having the answer...)
To: pieceofthepuzzle
Makes more sense ~ NOW. Re-reading what you said a couple of times what happened is you didn't use enough hard returns. That created a paragraph with multiple subjects and verbs which the sort of grammatical "pointing" we are stuck with in English resulted in an apparent, if not real, confounding of ASC and ESC within the single term "Stem Cell".
Your bad luck to encounter a grammar nazi Fur Shur.
19
posted on
01/30/2010 8:37:49 AM PST
by
muawiyah
("Git Out The Way")
To: muawiyah
Thanks. Emotions run high in this field, and I knew when I posted that what I was trying to say might be misunderstood. Also, I’m just getting over the ‘gift’ of a ‘cold’ I got from my child, so I’m not exactly articulate or thinking very clearly at the moment.
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