Thanks Perry and Marjorie for alerting the list to the Washington Post
article - "God and Science" By Arthur Allen  -Sunday , October 15, 2000 ;
Page W08
It was very interesting to read and also unique, since it put a human
face on some of the researchers involved in stem cell research, and
discussed the efffects of the controversy on them. Below are excerpts of
some issues raised by the article (to which I've added some comments and
questions). It should still be available online at :
www.washingtonpost.com
Linda Herman

 - Does the following reflect actual public opinion, or which groups were
better organized?
" Of the more than 50,000 people who responded to NIH's call for comment
on last
December's draft of the guidelines, more than three-quarters opposed
them."

- Some of the problems with private research funding, currently
proceeding without the NIH guidelines. See especially **  below: (Melton
is chair of Harvard's department of molecular and cellular biology and
doing research on the use of stem cells in diabetes; he has a young son
suffering from juvenile diabetes.)

" At present, the sole American source of embryonic stem cells is the
University
of Wisconsin, which has set up a corporation that offers academic
researchers access to James Thomson's cells. More than 100 researchers
have expressed interest in the cells-they cost $5,000 up front for a
starter kit. But the contract sent to Melton for use of the cells comes
with two unusual clauses. One states that Geron Corp., which funded the
research on stem cells at both Wisconsin and Johns Hopkins, holds the
rights to any discovery arising from work with Thomson's cells; ** the
other, a generic bailout clause, says that the university's foundation
can at any time order Melton within 90 days to destroy the stem cells and
any experiments he's done with them."

"Harvard won't go along with these terms. Neither, it turns out, will the
Hughes Institute. Melton leaves Hughes feeling disappointed. As he heads
back toward his son and his lab in Boston he examines his other, limited,
options. Melton knows that a group in Australia has created its own
immortal embryonic stem cell lines. British and Israeli researchers are
also trying to develop the cells. Given that Congress and NIH are not
moving ahead swiftly on the issue, that could leave Melton with what he
calls "the extreme possibility." By which he means he would take his
family
and, in the name of science and his diabetic son, "move out of the
country."

 - The upcoming election and why it is important :
"There seems to be a gentleman's agreement that [the appropriations
bills]
won't be touched," a frustrated Doerflinger (he is a lobbyist opposed to
stem cell research) said after hearing of the decision this summer. Now,
everything rests on the election. Republican presidential nominee George
W. Bush opposes the NIH guidelines and could override them if elected.
Even if Democratic nominee Al Gore becomes president, Republicans could
try a legislative attack on the research-but
it's unlikely they'll have the votes, opponents acknowledge."

- Private sector research funding may be preferred by some scientists:
"As it is, some scientists won't be seeking NIH funding even if Congress
doesn't intervene to shut down the research. The NIH guidelines are too
narrow and restrictive, they say, too politically correct and
logistically
impractical. They'd rather go to the private sector. Johns Hopkins's John
Gearhart, already funded by Geron Corp., says patient groups are lining
up
to support his research with private money. "They're all interested.
Millions of people could benefit from this," he says."

 - Potential problems with privately funded research:
"Geron Corp., which created a minor scandal by successfully filing a
patent
in Europe for human cloning and also controls the patents in the United
States for genes that apparently enable cells to divide forever, is one
of
a handful of companies moving ahead with stem cell efforts. When Thomas
Okarma, the company's chief scientist, gave a talk at an AAAS meeting
this
spring, many scientists could be seen madly scribbling notes.
"This is exactly why we need public-funded research," says a senior NIH
official, who asked not to be named. "None of what he's talking about has
been published." And that, the official says, can hurt both science and
the
public."

 - Babyboomers with PD -  a new public image?
"One chilly evening, McKay  (a leading NIH stem cell researcher) walks
into a Chevy Chase condominium where 26 gray-haired people, most of them
in their fifties, are waiting for him to address their Parkinson's
support group. . .  many of those
here tonight are early Parkinson's patients - they've got symptoms like
shaking hands and depression and fatigue and disrupted sleep. But they're
baby boomers, a generation accustomed to getting what it wants, and they
aren't too sick to be squeaky wheels."

 -  Certainly our funding situation has improved over the last few years,
but is PD research now really considered to be "well funded"?
"Research on Parkinson's is well funded, and it has reached the stage
where new effective therapies might be available in five years."

 - Hope you're right Perry!
"We're near," says Perry Cohen, a health policy consultant who has
Parkinson's and helped organize the support group. "Parkinson's has a
good chance of getting a product out the door."