The American Spectator

Reader Mail

(Page 6 of 16)

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I haven't stopped wondering over the past many months why the simplest argument of all hasn't been pounded out over and over: if embryonic stem cell research is so viable, why aren't private capitalists tripping over themselves to be the first to make real progress in the field? In other words, why do researchers need federal grants (a.k.a. your money and mine) to keep the Double Helix Express rolling down the tracks?

If embryonic stem cells could really be parlayed into cures for Alzheimer's, and paralysis, and Parkinson's, and this, and that, and whatever the latest malady a celebrity has been diagnosed with, the field would be more lucrative than any other medical field has ever been before. Right? Merck and GSK and Pfizer and Genentech and all the others would be racing toward that fortune if it they thought it existed. Right?

We see real progress being made with stem cells from chord blood, adult nasal tissue and other sources, and all the while the politicians keep shouting from the rooftops about the promise of embryonic stem cells. Heck, even here in California enough people thought it would be a good idea to buy a bond to fund research specifically in fields not currently explored (i.e., embryonic stem cells) so that we could attract the research labs before they set up digs elsewhere.

Isn't this all akin to asking that tax dollars be spent on exploring for oil on the Moon? No one in the private sector thinks there's a promise of finding anything there, so they focus on proven sources. But by God if we could find oil on the Moon it can't harm any wildlife, so let's spend federal money on the exploration!

p>Am I missing something? Is there something else barring the private sector from doing the research? Or have we really reached the point where none of our representatives believes in the capital markets? br> -- Erik Litvinchuk br> Sacramento, California /p> p> Bravo to President Bush. He has shown the moral clarity and courage to resist the false promises of embryonic stem cell research. I shudder to think what would become of the dignity and sanctity of innocent human life under one of his opponents administrations. br> -- John Gronke /p> p>

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