Opponents of embryo research have used by former vice president Al Gore, as to attack research on embryonic stem cells (ESCs).
The attacks have put some Republicans in the awkward position of supporting someone they otherwise dislike following the 2006 release of Gore鈥檚 film, An Inconvenient Truth.
Gore announced on 14 April that a venture capital company in which he is a partner is investing $20 million into induced pluripotent stem cell (iPS) technology, which enables embryonic-like cells to be made from ordinary skin cells.
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Because ESCs originate from human embryos which are destroyed during extraction, research using them is considered immoral by opponents of embryo destruction.
Stem cell venture
Gore鈥檚 venture capital company, is putting $20 million into a joint venture between , a company in San Francisco, and the University of Kyoto where researcher Shinya Yamanaka discovered how to make iPS cells in 2006.
The aim is to produce treatments for degenerative conditions including Parkinson鈥檚 Disease and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.
But because the investment appears to be a rejection of ESC technology, some right wingers in the US have seized on the high profile of Gore to repeat their objections to it.
They鈥檝e also used it as a pretext to attack president Barack Obama鈥檚 recent move to lift a seven-year restriction on federal ESC research imposed in 2001 by former president George Bush.
鈥溈烀ǘ淌悠祍 pleased with Obama鈥檚 release of federal funding for research on ESCs argue that all avenues of research should be pursued, no matter what, but 鈥榥o matter what鈥� is problematic, and worthy of our discomfort,鈥� writes columnist Kathleen Parker, .
鈥楴ot a Catholic鈥�
鈥淓mbryonic stem cell research necessarily destroys a human embryo, which is what we all were once upon a time,鈥� continues Parker.
Referring to iPS cells, Parker says 鈥淗ere and now, one can [avoid destroying life]. And I鈥檓 not a Catholic, lapsed or otherwise. It just makes sense. Gore apparently thinks so too, and he鈥檚 not an idiot, right?鈥� she says.
Parker also quotes a from 4 March by former head of the US National Institutes of Health, Bernadine Healy, arguing that the justification for ESC research is receding. 鈥淭here is markedly diminished need for expanding these cell lines for either patient therapy or basic research,鈥� Healy wrote.
But ESC researchers say it鈥檚 wrong to assume that Gore鈥檚 investment effectively writes-off ESC research, or that he had any intention of sending out an ethical 鈥渟ignal鈥�.
Scientifically na茂ve
鈥淭he investment by venture capital firms, one of which has Al Gore on its board, is a financial investment in science, and should not be interpreted as an ethical investment,鈥� says of King鈥檚 College London.
鈥淗undreds of millions of dollars have similarly been invested in human ESC companies, so to say that ESC biology or technology are 鈥榙ead鈥� is intellectually and scientifically na茂ve,鈥� says Minger.
鈥淲e welcome Al Gore鈥檚 support of iPS cells,鈥� adds , head of research at Advanced Cell Technology, a company in Worcester, Massachusetts, developing stem cell treatments, including some based on ESCs. 鈥淗owever, this in no way means ESC research is no longer needed.鈥�
Earlier this year, for example, Geron of Menlo Park, California, received permission to treat spinal injuries with cells derived from ESCs.
鈥淐linical trials using ESCs are imminent, and it would be grossly premature to abandon this research and simply cross our fingers and hope that iPS cells will solve everything,鈥� says Lanza.
鈥淲hat if we鈥檙e wrong, and it takes another decade or two to perfect iPS technology?鈥� he asks. 鈥淭here鈥檚 an urgent health crisis out there, and we cannot afford to abandon either strategy until we have all the answers.鈥�
