Follow the money

Yet another government-employed scientist resigns, supposedly due to the Administration's life-affirming policies. But, the resignation announcement is - once again - actually the announcement about a new job in the private sector. And the criticisms are - coincidentally, I'm sure - as much in favor of the new employer and that employer's (wishful) claims on federal funds as they are criticisms about the Administration's refusal to hand over those funds.

Wired News has a 3 page on-line interview with Mahendra Rao, the leader of the National Institute of Health's stem cell unit. Rao has a new job at Invitrogen in Carlsbad California. I'm sure he has no hopes of new and lucrative patents and business success. Especially in light of the fact that California has pledged $3 Billion dollars to what is essentially start up money for a bunch of private firms.

All of the men and women who complain about the Administration's policy on funding for stem cells act as though the rules have changed on them. In fact, if they've changed, it is in order to become looser. No other Administration has ever given money to research that depends on the (in this case, the past) destruction of human embryos. The Clinton administration set up the deal for the production of the now-funded cell lines, but didn't appropriate any money for the research. (Or for the required destruction of the embryos.) All such funding is limited by Congress and the Hyde Amendment.

The rules have always been that no human research subjects are subjected to experiments that do not have a reasonable expectation of benefit to that human, unless that human can give full informed consent. Even then, the research could not have the expectation that the human would die as part of the intention of the research protocol. The more recent rules, necessary after some scientists decided they didn't have to follow the above rule if they simply redefined "human," is that no federal funds are used to support such research.

In this case, the embryonic stem cells that are available were created without federal funding. There was the specter of more such lines being created - as we have all too well seen- and so the President decided that the compromise to allow some pilot research would hopefully spare human lives while allowing time for some of the preliminary research to go on.


The only thing we need to change is the definition of human being, which is now variable, depending on the utility it has to whomever. And, so, the definition varies from use to use. One person may feel that it's after the entire body is delivered. Or, it's after implantation. Or, it's after developing the ability to feel pain - which changes according to the purposes for defining "pain."


This constant redefining of human being ignores embryology, taxonomy, and common sense. But it's absolutely necessary to continue to utilize the technologies coming out of destructive embryonic research. Because 5 years of research has confirmed that none of the frozen IVF embryos will work in living current or future human beings without further processing. As in gestation in a natural or artificial uterus. Or possibly - if anyone ever gets it to work - through somatic cell nuclear transplant - which will also require gestation in a natural or artificial uterus.


In the meantime, there are ongoing trials and ongoing recruitment of humans for treatments with non-destructive stem cells and all sorts of factors to recruit and stimulate reproduction of their own stem cells and the cell lines and organs supposedly sought by Hwang and Rao, with their red herring trials.

Take a look at these, on diabetes, both Type 1 (juvenile) and Type 2 (adult onset):
http://www.clinicaltrials.gov/ct/show/NCT00239148?order=46
http://www.clinicaltrials.gov/ct/show/NCT00239187?order=47