Editorial CE #5

This week’s editorial is called “Behind the Cell Curve” by Kathleen Parker in the Washington Post. It is discussing how Barack Obama has cut spending on stem cell research and that any scientific decisions will be made based on fact not ideology. Parker feels that Obama is being oblivious to some amazing strides that researchers have made in alternative stem cell research. Unfortunately, the stem cell debate has always been a conflict between science and religion. The majority of Americans have reached a consensus that we should pursue this research. Polling confirms as much, but most Americans, including most journalists and politicians, aren't fluent in stem cell research. If people know anything, it is that embryonic stem cells can cure diseases and that all stem cells come from fertility clinic embryos that will be discarded anyway. Every success in treating patients with stem cells so far has involved adult or umbilical cord stem cells, not embryonic stem cells. And though federal dollars still won't directly fund embryo destruction, federally funded researchers can obtain embryos privately created only for experimentation. Thus, taxpayers now are incentivizing a market for embryo creation and destruction. Embryonic stem cells have been argued to be pluripotent. But studies in 2007 have shown that with injection of genes into skin cells, the same pluripotent cells can be created. Many scientists want to conduct embryonic stem cell research, as they have and always could with private funding. One may agree or disagree with their purposes, but one may also question why taxpayers should have to fund something so ethically charged when alternative methods are available. Parker feels that “science handed Obama a gift, and he sent it back.” I agree and disagree with Parker on this editorial. We do need the private funding so we can further stem cell research, but if there are alternate methods, we should take advantage of those instead of drowning ourselves in more debt by spending more money. It is amazing to be able to cure cancer with stem cells and it is something I advocate. I think we should cut back a little bit on funding stem cell research rather than cutting funding completely.