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Editorial: Blocked research
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Friday, December 30, 2005
Stem cell research, especially embryonic stem cell research, offers unbelievable hope to cure currently incurable diseases and improve the lives of the human race.
It would be a tragedy if the fraudulent work of South Korea's disgraced stem cell scientist impeded the efforts of scientists to deliver on the promise of stem cell research.
As the world's most prosperous and technologically advanced nation, the United States should be leading the world in such research.
Unfortunately, the United States is likely unique in the world in having its government throw up roadblocks to limit therapeutic stem cell research using embryonic stem cells, which can produce any type of human cell or tissue.
Medical researchers consider embryonic stem cells as the building blocks of regenerative medicine.
The breakthroughs announced by Dr. Hwang Woo Suk of South Korea and published in the prestigious journal Science in June 2005 immediately raised the hopes of suffering people and the spirits of Americans attempting to convince President Bush to drop his opposition to opening up federal funding of embryonic stem cell research.
The unimpeded capabilities of South Korean scientists to conduct embryonic stem cell research appeared to give the Koreans a competitive edge over the restricted research required of U.S. scientists.
Perhaps, it was thought, these breakthrough results in Korea would convince Bush to lift his four-year-old restrictions on the use of federal research funds to only a few dozen stem cell lines.
There were not as many lines as Bush thought. Plus, the age and contamination of the remaining lines severely limited their usefulness.
With the discovery of the South Korean fraud, it was feared that Bush and other religious opponents of embryonic stem cell research would be even more determined to maintain the restrictions.
The fraud indicates a breakdown in the ethics and peer review process guiding stem cell research. The credibility of embryonic stem cell research needs to be restored.
The great hope that embryonic stem cell research holds for curing Alzheimer's, diabetes, multiple sclerosis, spinal cord injuries, cancers and other conditions no doubt contributed to the quicker than usual acceptance of the fraud.
The fraud means scientific journals must redouble their efforts to verify research results before they are published.
Researchers need to be more open with their laboratory work. Peer-review scientists must be more demanding when examining the data.
The existing scientific review process means that Hwang's fraud eventually would have been uncovered.
The fact remains that Bush's stem cell limitations do put the United States at a competitive disadvantage worldwide and should be removed
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