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Obama to reverse limits on stem cell work

Reverend_Hellh0und said:
So in the bigger picture, does one see a new market for creating these embryos? How do you feel about creating embryos for profit?


The only thing that changed is Obama is allowing government to fund the research..

More non-stimulus spending in a recession. Great! :roll:
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I may be wrong, but I don't think this increased the amount of spending at all. It just allows the already allocated research funding to be given to embryonic stem cell studies.
 
Kernel Sanders said:
I may be wrong, but I don't think this increased the amount of spending at all. It just allows the already allocated research funding to be given to embryonic stem cell studies.
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Perhaps on paper, however, wouldn't not spending money. now spending money be a net increase in spending?


Was this money tied up? Do you have a link?
 
Reverend_Hellh0und said:
Perhaps on paper, however, wouldn't not spending money. now spending money be a net increase in spending?


Was this money tied up? Do you have a link?
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I'm saying that federal research money is a part of the budget - the amount isn't going to change. All that Obama's move does is allow stem cell studies to tap into federal funds that are already allocated for research. There isn't any more money going around, there's just more studies with access to the same amount of money.

And no, I don't have a link. That's just my understanding of the process.
 
Kernel Sanders said:
I'm saying that federal research money is a part of the budget - the amount isn't going to change. All that Obama's move does is allow stem cell studies to tap into federal funds that are already allocated for research. There isn't any more money going around, there's just more studies with access to the same amount of money.

And no, I don't have a link. That's just my understanding of the process.
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ok, I see your point.

Then again, money is being taken from a less controversial research and given to this research, no?
 
Reverend_Hellh0und said:
ok, I see your point.

Then again, money is being taken from a less controversial research and given to this research, no?
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Probably. I'll tell you this though, I know several people at university who have government funding for their research and it's all for stupid ****. Not one would come close to trumping medical research of any kind. The damage done to other areas pales in comparison to the good that will come of allowing the federal government to support stem cell research, which is an area that is still in its infancy, but has incredible potential.
 
Kernel Sanders said:
Probably. I'll tell you this though, I know several people at university who have government funding for their research and it's all for stupid ****. Not one would come close to trumping medical research of any kind. The damage done to other areas pales in comparison to the good that will come of allowing the federal government to support stem cell research, which is an area that is still in its infancy, but has incredible potential.
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I hear we have made more strides in adult stem cell research, is this true? if so, why not then fund that instead?
 
Reverend_Hellh0und said:
So in the bigger picture, does one see a new market for creating these embryos? How do you feel about creating embryos for profit?


The only thing that changed is Obama is allowing government to fund the research..

More non-stimulus spending in a recession. Great! :roll:
Click to expand...

Embryos are already created for profit. Do you honestly think that I.V. treatments are free? Right now we create them, for profit, and un-used ones are simply discarded.

Funding basic research is a basic function of government. It has been for hundreds of years. What the Bush Administration did is place politics (and the ignorance that its based in), over science.
 
Reverend_Hellh0und said:
I hear we have made more strides in adult stem cell research, is this true? if so, why not then fund that instead?
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They are both being funded now, as it should be. They are not perfect replacements for one another, and a lack of research in either area would damage medical progress.
 
Reverend_Hellh0und said:
I hear we have made more strides in adult stem cell research, is this true? if so, why not then fund that instead?
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Federal funding for basic research should go where the scientists involved in that research believe it should go. If the scientific community did not believe there was huge promise in embryonic stem cell research, then they would not want funding for it.

This is the whole reason for The National Academy of Sciences. They should be the ones advising government on public policy as it relates to science. Not some idiot on the religious right that took their kids to the Creation Museum in Kentucky for Spring Break, and not some ignorant politician that is beholden to those idiots.
 
americanwoman said:
I think it's sad someone would try and stop medical advances in any shape or form. Go Obama!
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Perhaps. But it's equally as sad to exaggerate, misrepresent, or outright lie about the prospects of unproven treatments, either for profit or for political gain.

The list of diseases for which stem cell research offers 'potential' cures is extremely lengthy. And hope for those suffering from all these devastating diseases is a good thing. But there's a fine line between hope and false hope. Very fine.

:(
 
Reverend_Hellh0und said:
So in the bigger picture, does one see a new market for creating these embryos?
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Not really. it costs money to store invitro embryos. Even cold storage for later usage which represents tiny amounts of total "production" is pretty expensive. Not to mention that fertility clinics just give the stuff away. Kind of hard to produce a market there when those who have the inventory freely donate it or destroy it as biohazardous waste.

How do you feel about creating embryos for profit?
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Profit? How can you make a profit when everyone else is giving them away for free or paying you to dispose of it? That's not a good framework for producing a profitable venture.

The only thing that changed is Obama is allowing government to fund the research.
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Which isn't a bad thing given how public money has historically lead to economic feasibility.

More non-stimulus spending in a recession. Great! :roll:
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Not necessarily. More funding leads to more research. That leads to more high paying bioscience jobs. That results in higher demand for equipment from manufacturers. That leads to increased activity on the manufactures' side resulting in more jobs or less job losses and more orders to raw material producers. And as other countries have shown, funding for stem cells has produced significant and growing industries. Furthermore, if America is going to stay at the top it is going to lead to catch up to the world in a variety of sciences and fields that the past Administration left to linger in the wind.
 
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