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when I go abroad for treatment and come back to the US, this legislation also carries a million dollar fine which I can't pay so will have to go to debtor's prison. Ray Vantage Point: Criminalizing science will undermine economy-and democracy BY PAUL BERG, PHD A near majority of senators is ready to send scientists to jail for pursuing research that challenges faith-based doctrine and certain individuals' personal values. Although a broad range of biologists and doctors agree that the study of embryonic stem cells should go forward-that it holds promise for advancing our fundamental understanding of human life as well as potentially leading to new therapies for diseases-many members of Congress are working to forbid it, indeed, criminalize it. Reflecting the growing political clout of social conservatives, these lawmakers hold that the current federal policy of restricting funding for such work does not go far enough. This threat is not only to stem cell biologists. It affects the entire scientific community. For when science is attacked on purely ideological grounds, its very integrity is at risk. Such a challenge to basic scientific research would have been unthinkable a few decades ago. Following World War II, the federal government enthusiastically embraced untargeted research, what some often refer to as curiosity-driven research. The achievements of our basic research enterprise made us the world leader in the physical and life sciences, fueling the economic prosperity that the country enjoyed for the last half of the 20th century. The public did not question the value of this research. The succession of breakthroughs in medicine, nuclear physics and information technologies, to mention a few, played well in the headlines and the domination by American scientists of each year's Nobel prizes engendered a sense of pride. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- To sign-off Parkinsn send a message to: mailto:[log in to unmask] In the body of the message put: signoff parkinsn