About friggin’ time.
I’m pleased to announce the end of one of the stupidest things to come from the Bush Administration: the funding ban on US stem cell research.
On Monday, President Obama is set to eliminate the ban (put in place in 2001) with an executive order, which means the relative hordes of scientists who have been aching to put American know-how to the test in this burgeoning field will finally have a chance to do so with assistance from the government.
To anyone unaware of the current ban, it’s one of the things that’s held America back in terms of R&D concerning stem cells. Other developed nations (including most of those in the EU) never had such bans, and so have been able to perform stem cell research unscathed for years without American competition. This executive order officially puts us back in the running – but there is much work to be done.
I think that this move is one of many fueled by the “return to science” Obama has been pushing since the start of his campaign. Why hold back such an important section of America? We’ve always been innovators; let the damned scientists work.
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As a biological researcher, I completely agree with you. Stem cell research has been ongoing at breakneck rates the whole time, however. At my college, there are no less than 5 stem cell researchers, and we are not a large institution. Also, the NIH has been funding stem cell grants without any reduction even during the ban. It was pretty much the most toothless executive order ever.
At any rate, this ban was foolish from the beginning, and tied to religious beliefs from the start. While I think we all fear an industry of making fetuses simply to kill them for their stem cells, I really doubt that would be a pillar of society. There are always going to be ethics messes to clean up in stem cells, but the technology is vital to the scientific progress we lead the world in.
The problem lies in the fact that people actually believe in souls, and that souls can be created in a lab when scientists put together cells.
@lunawolf,
I too believe in a soul, but I’m also most certainly in favour of stem cell research.
I also think that a sufficiently advanced machine who can recognize and understand “self” would also have a soul.
It’s just that people who put faith before common sense in opposition to research, stand in the way of progress. These people are no different than those a thousand years before, who opposed crossing the globe by ship in fear of “falling off” the end of the world.
Eh. I dunno about all that. The first time I heard about machines having souls was from my friend’s schizophrenic brother deep in an episode. He was convincing his friends that if you don’t say yes or no when the gas pump asks if you want a receipt, the machine will feel bad and kill you when they take over the world.
Well, I for one welcome our new gas pump overlords!
That’s a hell of an episode. What do you mean he was convincing them? Are you saying they actually believe it now?
I smell a hit miniseries.
lol. As if gas pumps don’t kill us now.