Obama Lifts Stem Cell Ban. Thoughts?
I think it's great news - welcomed by scientists all over. Even though I'm in the UK and went to a UK university during the years George Bush was in charge of America, I know it is something scientists, professors and lecturers were talking about and we could see how difficult it was becoming to get funding for various research projects.
More than that, the specific science research that allowed scientists to get to the next stage of development and understanding was always halted as stem cell research for their US counterparts was not authorized.
Just some background on this...
George Bush limited the use of tax payer money to only 21 stem cell lines however private funding did continue to delve into other stem cell lines and was shown to be better, healthier and more useful for treatment, but it was not available to be used publicly. Obama's move overturns an order signed by President Bush in 2001 that barred the National Institutes of Health from funding research on embryonic stem cells beyond using cell lines that existed at that time.
Want to know more about how stem cells work? Click Here
Obama's move is forward-thinking, and great for those scientists who were on the verge of breakthroughs and were halted, not allowed to go any further.
What are your thoughts on this? Which side of the debate are you on and why?
