Near-term Commercialism

Reporter Amy Tsao for Business Week Online wrote about the contaminated stem cell issue this week. Here is part of what she had to say:

“The finding is already fueling frustration among academic researchers in the U.S. And it is likely to accelerate efforts by states to fund their own stem-cell initiatives on the model of California's Proposition 71, as well as programs at privately backed companies. 'We need to look at approaches that are not within the boundaries of federal funding,' says David Scadden, co-director of the Stem Cell Institute at Harvard.

“There's nothing wrong with state-funded or private programs, of course. In fact, they may go a long way to offset the federal government's underwhelming commitment to this important field. Still, many of these efforts are likely to be focused on near-term commercial development, not on basic science. And no matter how you slice it, it's unfortunate that U.S. laboratories backed by the most prestigious federal grants will be placed at a disadvantage, vis-a-vis other researchers.”