Stem Cell Research under Bush
Scientists have spelled out the string of letters in our genetic code, but they have a lot more work to do to fully understand the message. June 26, 2000, marked a milestone in the history of research into the nature of mankind. Two teams of geneticists announced that they had each completed a 'rough draft' of the human genome, the complete set of genetic information in a human cell. The joint announcement was made by Francis Collins, leader of the international publicly funded Human Genome Project (HGP), and J. Craig Venter, president of Celera Genomic Corporation, a private company in Rockville, Maryland. The scientists said that their work would help researchers unravel the deepest secrets or our genes, the minute structures in our cells that determine or influence everything about us, including our physical traits, cellular functions, and behavior. Geneticists predicted that it would take decades to sort through and fully understand all of the information gathered about the human genome. Lay people began to wonder what impact all this information would eventually have on our lives. Many scientists, on the other hand, looked with great hope and anticipation to the knowledge to be gained from the sequencing of the human ge
After a few years of dealing with both the scientific and ethical problems, it is clearer than ever that the Bush administration has wrought an unworkable situation to pass regarding stem cell research. Prestigious Johns Hopkins University researchers have found that only eleven lines of stem cells have been made available to researchers, far fewer than Mr. Bush originally claimed there would be (Issues in Science and Technology, 2003, p. 27). It was partially this discovery that led to the Congressional letter to Mr. Bush. Among the signatories of that document were Rep. Michael N. Castle, a Delaware Republican and leader of an informal group of Republican moderates and Rep. Sherwood Boehlert, a New York Republican who also happens to chair the House Science Committee (Issues in Science and Technology, 2003, p. 27). While some Reaganites wanted to see Ronnie's head on a dime, The Washington Post thought a better way to honor him would be to increase funding for embryonic stem cell research. Two days after Reagan's death, William Safire was writing in the New York Times that increased funding would be the Gipper's last victory. Sen. Orrin Hatch-who pledged during his last Republican primary campaign to oppose embryo research, but then broke his promise-said, 'Maybe one of the small blessings that will come from [Reagan's] passing will be a greater opportunity for Nancy to work on this issue.' (Ponnuru, 2004, p. 36). After Ronald Reagan died, after a decade-long fight with Alzheimer's disease (widely thought to be one of the diseases to find a solution as a result of continuing stem cell/genome research), Nancy Reagan has made it clear that she would support funding for such research, although she has not gone so far as to suggest Republicans should support it in memory of her husband (Ponnuru, 2004, p. 36). As you know, embryonic stem cells have the potential to be used to treat and better understand deadly and disabling diseases and conditions that affect more than 100 million Americans, such as cancer, heart disease, diabetes, Parkinson's, Alzheimer's, multiple sclerosis, spinal cord injury, and many others (Qtd. by Ponnuru, 2004, p. 36). On the other hand, Ponnuru suggests proponents also slant their pitch. In a letter to President Bush to expand funding, 264 pro-funding congressmen wrote: The ranks of the 'true believers' in the 'evil' of cloning have clearly broken. It is time for Mr. Bush to get out of the ethics business and govern, to get out of the science business and attempt to run a country. It is time for prestigious science institutes, such as Johns Hopkins University, to be given the funding to expand stem cell research, and to hire the ethicists needed to address the real concerns regarding the use of such powerful tools for changing human life as human genomes. California passed a bill to explicitly endorse embryonic-stem-cell research, thumbing its nose at the White House in the process. Bush had limited federal funding to the study of currently existing stem-cell lines-research to which the National Institutes of Health (NIH) awarded $24.8 million in 2003-but the California legislation announced that the state would wel
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Approximate Pages = 9 (250 words per page double spaced)
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