STEM CELL RESEARCH SUPPORT STILL INSUFFICIENT

Since the passage of the massive $789 billion stimulus bill, the topic of stem cell research has, to an extent, become an out-of-sight, out-of-mind issue. With the White House’s ambition schedule of reforming the heath care system, overhauling financial regulation, closing Guantanamo Bay, and increasing troop levels in Afghanistan, it seems there may not be enough time to focus on this pivotal subject.

Granted, in the first five months of President Obama’s first term he has lifted the previous administration’s ban on federal funding for stem cell research, and allotted $10 billion to the National Institute of Health for the sole purpose of conducting said research (http://cancerfertility.blogspot.com/2009/02/what-does-economic-stimulus-plan-mean.html). Obama even issued a second executive order after lifting the federal funding ban on stem cell research intended "to wall off scientific research from political influences."

However, the funding for stem cell research within the stimulus bill does not go far
enough for some.  Mouli Cohen, head of the private equity innovation fund Voltage Capital, and long time advocate of stem cell research, believes that stem cell research in the US has a lot of catching up to do with its partners in the international scientific community. In 2003, after George W. Bush’s ban on stem cell research funding, Cohen provided grant support to the University of California San Fransisco’s stem cell research department “to help launch an FDA approved core research facility, a key component in translating the laboratory advancements made in stem cell research into therapeutic applications” (http://moulicohen.com/press/20031010.html). Cohen acknowledges the funding provided by President Obama, but insists that the funding falls short of the mark. The primary reason for this is that, in his view, the funding excludes many privately funded research projects conducted in the past 7 years, and does not go far enough in including different types of stem cells. “Even though we've had a major increase in federal funding for stem cell research this year, there is still a lot of research that must be done outside the NIH guidelines. Private investment must rise to the occasion of filling that gap. Otherwise, the United States will surely fall behind its peers in the international science community like Great Britain and France” says Cohen.

The International Society for Stem Cell Research, or ISSCR, holds a similar position on the matter, insisting the National Institute of Health’s does not do enough to expand the scope of research. The ISSCR’s official response to the NIH funding guidelines somewhat echoes Cohen’s point, emphasizing the need for all human embryonic stem cells to be made available for research, as long as three main ethical criteria are met. In essence, the ISSCR outlines this criteria as “voluntary informed consent, no undue inducement, and independent review and oversight” (http://www.isscr.org/press_releases/nihcomments.html) when it comes to stem cells obtained by In Vitro, or in any other process of procuring the cells.

The Private sector certainly represents one way to skirt the prickly political debate regarding funding for human embryonic stem cells, but that does not mean that the debate has disappeared. In July the ISSCR will be holding an international conference on stem cell research in Barcelona, and this will hopefully shine a spotlight on the international community’s embrace of stem cell research. Claire Mcaskill, now junior senator from Missouri, ousted the incumbent senator Jim Talent in 2006, largely because of her challenging the Bush administration’s policies on stem cells. In attempting to pass a constitutional amendment to protect stem cell research, Mccaskill quipped, "there are people of principle who disagree with this form of research. I respect their principles. What I don't respect is someone dancing around science for political cover" (http://www.nytimes.com/2006/04/24/washington/24stem.html?ex=1178769600&en=cbeda4e45bf02761&ei).

Once this is clear, and that is the federal government will not be footing the entire bill for this line of scientific inquiry. $10 billion dollars provides a platform to jump start the process but it is clear that private investment will have to play an important role.