James Thomson, the lead researcher on the team that grew the first embryonic stem cell line, and who has the patent on all human embryonic stem cell lines, has given an interview to the Wisconsin State Journal. There is a partial transcript and an audio slide show at the website.
Dr. Thomson agrees with me: embryonic stem cells and even those from cloned embryos are not likely to be transplanted. He believes that the embryonic stem cells will be useful for "basic research."
He does complain about the lack of money.
If his research does not have funding, then where is the money going that the University of Wisconsin collects via WARF, Wi-Cell and all those patent and royalty fees from the patents?
If there's no money from patents, then why does the Juvenile Diabetes Foundation spend their money on embryonic stem cell research in countries that do not honor US laws and patent regulations, claiming that their money goes farther where no one has to pay fees to WARF?
(More information on the patents at the link above)
From the Sign On San Diego Website:
According to the Foundation for Consumer and Taxpayer Rights, which filed the July 18 challenge to the WARF patent, licensing fees can go as high as $250,000.
And that does not include annual maintenance fees of about $40,000 and potential royalty payments, Wetherell said.
Donley, the WARF lawyer, would not talk about the high end of the foundation's scale of licensing fees.
But she said a commercial license could be as low as $75,000, broken into three annual installments. WARF has also been willing to take a stake in a company in lieu of fees, she said.
“If a company can't afford our $25,000 yearly fee, then it cannot afford the growth factors it needs to grow the cells,” Donley said.
(Read more, here.)
If the U of W will not invest those royalty and licensing fees in Thomson's labs, then why should we US taxpayers?
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