Gearhart Gets the Stem Cell Research Discussion On Point

Human embryonic stem cell research may be the path to remarkable disease treatments and cures in the near future. While it is important to be realistic about the science and resist overly optimistic expectations that stem cells are a panacea, lifting the ban on federal support of human embryonic stem cell research should be at the top of the agenda for the Obama administration. We cannot continue to stand idle, as the most promising line of biological inquiry in decades lies at our fingertips.

John Gearhart, Science Progress advisory board member and director of the Institute for Regenerative Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, appeared last week on NPR’s On Point to discuss the past, present, and future of stem cell research and policy. Federal funding of human embryonic stem cell research has been profoundly anemic, Gearhart argues on the show:

If we look at the funding of the past eight years through the Bush administration, only about 3 percent out of a $4 billion budget on stem cell research has been allocated to the study of human embryonic stem cells. That number is simply too low to make an impact. Dreams without resources are just hallucinations. We’ve got to get out in education, outreach, and really make the public understand what this science is all about.

The point is important not just because access to resources can support future research. Conservatives have consistently argued that research on adult stem cells and induced pluripotent cells is sufficient, ignoring the fact that hES cells are still the gold standard for pluripotency.

For a full explanation of the importance of federal support of ethical human embryonic stem cell research, see the CAP report “A Life Sciences Crucible”. For a look back at the events that shaped stem cell policy history, see: “Timeline: A Brief History of Stem Cell Research.”

Image: University of Wisconsin-Madison

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