Scientists Copeland and Jenkins changed their minds, and went to Singapore, instead of Stanford.
Why? Lawsuits currently block the California stem cell research program. According to an article in CNN.com ("Stem Cell Scientists headed to Singapore to continue research", November 21, 2005) the husband and wife team said "they were concerned about delays in the allocation of $3 billion set aside by a California ballot measure approved in 2004."
It would be great if those who are behind the lawsuits-conservative religion, the anti-abortion movement, and the anti-tax folks-would be able to change their mind.
There is no fault in making a mistake; that is why we have reverse in our cars, so we can take a new direction. That is why Eberhard Faber became rich, putting erasers on pencils.
Someday, the anti-science Brownbacks and Weldons of the world will be proven wrong. The battle against SCNT will be recorded in the history books as a struggle of ignorance against hope, and political parties and religions will be judged as to whether they were a positive force for good, or an obstruction to the healing of millions.
Somatic Cell Nuclear Transfer will be four words every schoolchild knows, and every doctor, and every grateful parent who sees their child getting well from what had been an incurable disease or disability.
I wonder if Sam Brownback and Dave Weldon will ever admit their mistakes, and apologize for attacking the research which could save so many lives?
Probably not, and who can blame them? Their anti-SCNT stance is so incredibly wrong, costing America a chance to ease suffering and lower medical costs. It is difficult to imagine politicians humble enough to say they were 100% out of synch with reality.
And that's human nature, I suspect. When I brag about the success of the First International Stem Cell conference, it is possible I forget to mention my original opinion, that it was impossible, and would never work.
It is enough to simply change directions. As one of America's greatest Republicans once advised:
"As is our cause is new, so must we think anew, and act anew."-A. Lincoln.
Don Reed
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