That’s the only conclusion I can draw from their editorial/article (hard to say which it’s supposed to be), Science prevails.
The era of stem cells has officially begun.
Why it’s now “official” I don’t understand. They admit that funding was available for “a handful of existing [embryonic] stem cell lines”, that “some experts now believe that adult stem cells also can be useful for medical therapies,” for which there was no federal ban on funding, and that California itself has “devoted $3 billion in bonds to stem-cell research” (which kind of stem cells is not mentioned). And all this despite, as NPR notes, “a legislative ban on the use of federal dollars to create new stem cell lines remains in place.”
They go on glowingly, “But the important thing is that now, scientists will have the ability to make choices based on science.” That’s just more bullshit. Anyone who receives this potential new funding will still be hamstrung by a series of new regulations. Scientists, especially those looking for government funding, then, now, and in the future will have to make choices based on what the government wants to fund. That’s all there is to it.
