Bush preparing to axe vital medical research into stem cells
http://wsws.org/articles/2001/jan2001/stem-j13_prn.shtml
By Frank Gaglioti
13 January 2001
Even before George W. Bush has taken office, his press secretary Ari
Fleischer signalled on January 4 that the new US administration would
probably axe public funding for groundbreaking medical research using stem
cells. Clinton only gave the go-ahead last August for public financial
support through the National Institute of Health (NIH) for the research.
Previously only privately funded research had been allowed.
The announcement is an early indication that the Bush administration will
move to implement the reactionary agenda of the Christian fundamentalist
lobby with serious consequences for science and medicine. Scientists obtain
the stem cells for their research from discarded embryos produced during in
vitro fertilisation programs—a process the Christian ultra right regard as
equivalent to abortion and murder.
At a press conference Fleischer quoted a statement made by Bush during the
presidential campaign that he would “oppose federally funded research for
experimentation on embryonic stem cells that require live human embryos to be
discarded or destroyed.”
Bush spokesman Scott McClelland added: “The President-elect's position is
clear. He opposes federal funds for research that involves destroying living
human embryos... As we have previously indicated, we intend to review all
rules and executive orders implemented by the Clinton administration.”
Bush's nomination of Wisconsin Governor Tommy Thompson to the cabinet
position of head of the Department of Health and Human Services, which
oversees the National Institute of Health, also indicates a hard line on stem
cell research and other issues such as abortion. Thompson is notorious for
introducing far reaching anti-abortion legislation in Wisconsin. Purportedly
aimed at banning late term abortions, the law had the effect of halting most
abortion procedures because of its all-embracing wording.
The 1998 Wisconsin law describes abortion as a procedure meant to “kill a
child” and defines a foetus as a human being from the moment of conception.
Thus an abortion is tantamount to murder and any doctor performing abortions
faces a life sentence. Such wording would also have the effect of banning
stem cell research, as the harvesting of stem cells involves “murdering” the
embryo.
At last year's Republican Party National Convention, Thompson headed the
platform committee, which adopted an anti-abortion resolution stating that
“the unborn child has a fundamental individual right to life which cannot be
infringed.”
Some scientists have already expressed fears about the future of the
research. Dr. John Gearhart, a leading stem cell researcher from Johns
Hopkins University, said “whether it's Mr Bush or Mr Thompson, with the
conservative bent on this, one has reason to be concerned.''
The research has the potential to cure a number of degenerative diseases such
as Lou Gehrig, Alzheimer and Parkinson disease. Stem cells have the
extraordinary ability to transform themselves into any other type of body
cells, given the right conditions. Scientists are examining the possibilities
of using cell cultures to produce tissues and even organs for transplants.
Such transplant material would have the advantage of being produced from
cells taken from the patient, thus avoiding complications of tissue rejection.
Although the National Institute of Health is currently vetting research
proposals for federal funding, private companies currently undertake most
stem cell research in the US. The US company Geron Corp is using stem cells
to produce cardiomyocytes, a component of heart muscle, that could possibly
lead to a treatment for degenerative heart disease. Osiris Therapeutics is
conducting clinical tests of a mixture of stem cells that may assist in the
recovery of bone marrow transplant patients, the rebuilding of aging bones
and the repair of damaged cartilage.
European countries are moving rapidly to encourage the research. Italian
health Minister Umberto Veronesi accepted a scientific report recommending
human stem cell cloning at the end of last year. Italy followed closely on
the heels of Britain, which recently passed legislation allowing early-stage
embryos to be used for research, overturning the 1990 Human Fertilisation and
Embryology Act. The law previously only permitted research using human
embryos for purposes related to infertility, and for a limited period of 14
days. Sweden already allows stem cell research.
Although US scientists working in the field have achieved a number of
outstanding scientific and medical breakthroughs, the previous lack of public
funding has meant that they have had to work for pharmaceutical and
biotechnology companies. But by its very nature stem cell research is
long-term and very few therapeutic treatments have even reached the stage of
clinical trials.
As a result biotechnology companies have made very little profit so far and
their future is looking shaky. The stock price of Geron, considered the
leading company in the field, has plummeted 70 percent since a record high of
$78 last March. The company has recently been forced to establish a
partnership with New Jersey-based drug manufacturer Pharmacia and Swiss
pharmaceutical giant Roche.
A decision by the Bush administration to cut off public funding for stem cell
research could have a catastrophic impact in the US where the majority of the
work in this field has been done to date.
