Virulent opposition to research involving human embryonic
stem cells is surfacing anew in the wake of the vast attention attracted by the
Ice Bucket Challenge.
Sarah Pulliam Bailey wrote on Religion News Service that the
objections have “gone viral” on the Internet because the beneficiary of the watery fundraising, the ALS Association, finances
research involving human embryonic stem cell (hESC) lines.
For those of you who are not tuned into the icy effort, it
involves celebrities and others pouring frigid water over themselves and
challenging others to do likewise and donate to the ALS Association. About $16 million has been raised so far and
is still growing. Photos, news stories and blogs all chronicle the challenge on
the Web. A search this morning on the term “ice
bucket challenge” turned up 57.2 million hits.
Our readers might ask how this involves the $3 billion
California stem cell agency. The answer is that hESC research is the primary reason
for the existence of the agency. It was created in 2004 by California voters
after former President Bush restricted federal funding for research involving
hESC. Ironically Bush has participated
in the challenge(see video above).
Bush’s restrictions, since lifted by President Obama, generated
major controversy in the scientific community and raised fears that efforts to develop
what seemed to be nearly magical therapies would wither and die. Without that concern,
voters would have been unlikely to approve the measure, Proposition 71, and
campaign contributors would have been unwilling to open their checkbooks.
The stem cell agency, however, has turned away from hESC research. Less than 250 of its 622 awards have gone to that field, according to
the agency. Instead the agency is backing adult stem cell research, once an
anathema to the organization, along with experiments involving reprogrammed adult stem
cells. Leaders in the stem cell field, however, say human embryonic stem cells remain the
scientific gold standard. (No figures were immediately available on the dollar
value of the hESC awards.)
Continued funding of hESC research is linked to the agency’s
search for alternative sources of cash as its current financing winds
down. Efforts to develop a fresh stream from public sources will run up against the
controversy involving hESC experiments, one of the reasons for the lack of
interest by Big Pharma. The hESC opposition could also have an impact on development of private
sources of funding who may not want to become embroiled in the flap, which can
lead to picketing and public protests involving entities that support hESC
research.
Kevin McCormack, senior director for the stem cell agency’s public
communications, wrote about the ice bucket fad last week on the agency’s blog.
He said it “shows how a little bit of creativity can create so much more
interest in a disease, and the people suffering from it, than any amount of
well-meaning, more traditional attempts at education.” And he poured a bucket
of water over his head.
Nonetheless, the opponents hold their views with great
passion and zeal and have little respect for hESC science. Here is what one
person said today in a comment posted on the Religion News Service article. The
individual was identified only as “jamadan.”
“My father died of ALS 6 years ago. My father was and my family is ‘pro-life’, meaning we believe abortion to be murder and embryonic research akin to Nazi medical testing on dead camp victims. Nothing can make us ‘accept’ abortion or anything that benefits from it. Not even our own lives. I think you’ll find that true for all Christians, who by definition, must be pro-life.”
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