Basically there is little incentive for companies to do the research.
So your entire line of reasoning is, "It is unprofitable to develop stem cell cures, therefore the government should throw billions of dollars at it." ?!?
So much for small government.
The funny thing is that NIH funded research often results in patents held by companies that stand to make millions from the patent.
So, in essence, people are insisting on gov't funding that results in the morally dubious destruction of embryos so that private companies can profit.
Awesome.
Because, you know, the gov't spent billions on cold fusion research just a decade or two ago, and, well, the results of that are astonishing to say the least. They proved cold fusion was possible, and it's a miracle energy source. But they still haven't been able to put it to any practical use.
Even if there was no ethical problem with embryonic stem cell research, I wouldn't want the gov't spending tons on it anyway. Spend some, yes, but a dollar you put into stem cell research is a dollar taken from one of the thousands of other research programs studying other ways to resolve heart disease, asthma, diabetes, cancer, etc. And it's a dollar taken from taxpayer's pockets to play a gambling game where they will rarely hit the jackpot, and when they do someone else gets the prize. This is a zero sum game. There are good reasons for public works, but there must necessarily be a line.
I'll say it again - people are complaining about a minor federal funding restriction that affects a small portion of the whole of stem cell research.
The reality is that if an embryonic stem cell derived cure was possible, it would be provable using animal models (using their embryonic stem cells, for which there is no restriction) and provable using the existing lines of embryonic stem cells (which have problems, sure, but it would work). Once a researcher can prove their cure to breast cancer using animal models and existing stem cell lines, guess what? Private money will come rolling in.
And they can use all the gov't money they want getting to that phase.
But they aren't even close on any front, and this is after nearly a decade of research.
They are making progress, and things still look promising, and some hot shot researchers have actually performed significant clinical trials with various stem cell therapies.
But the reality is that new lines of embryonic stem cells are not required to prove any basic, fundamental ability of any given stem cell therapy.[/QUOTE]
Steiny, I love ya, but if you think the only use ES cells have are towards looking for a one-shot, be-all cure for cancer you've got some major reading to do on the topic. And NO animal model is ever, ever, ever going to be as useful as an ES derived model.
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