Then the Republicans (as well as anyone else with common sense) should repeat, repeat, repeat:
...embryonic stem cell research has produced absolutely no major cures or treatements while adult stem cell research (that does not destroy embryos) has produced over 60.
Embryonic SCR, in addition to reminding us of "Dr." Mengele, is damn near useless.
So the question for Darth: Who the Hell is benefitting from this expenditure of taxpayer dollars?
HT: The Triumvirate
The Triumvirate errs by believing ANYTHING Barbara Lyons and Wisconsin Right to LIE say about embryonic stem cell research; nothing she says on the topic bears any relation to the truth or even to rational thought. On this topic she is a congenital liar.
ReplyDeleteThe Triumvirate calls embryonic stem cell research “failed research” even though it has been pointed out to them over and over that adult stem cell research had a 30+ year head start.
Posted below is a press release from the Governor’s Office concerning a grant which has gone to a Madison start-up company which is about to negotiate a contract with the military to produce platelets and other blood products using embryonic stem cells. The technology is proven; the only thing left to do is ramp it up in the manufacturing process. Once this company is fully operational your claim that the research is a “failure” will be shown to be the utter and complete lie that it is.
The good news out of the election in Wisconsin is that there is no longer a public policy debate in our state over embryonic stem cell research. Your candidate for Governor went down the primrose path with Wisconsin Right to LIE and lost. With the switch in the state Senate, none of the mind-numbingly goofy bills pushed by Wisconsin Right to LIE and Pro-LIE Wisconsin will even get to the Governor. He won’t have to use his veto pen at all. With an additional four years of research and economic development on embryonic stem cell research here in our state, the issue will, from a political standpoint, be completely moot.
Here is the press release:
For Immediate Release
Tuesday, October 10, 2006
Carla Vigue, Office of the Governor, 608-261-2162
Tony Hozeny, Department of Commerce, 608-267-9661
Governor Doyle Announces $1 Million for Stem Cell Start-up Company
State has $750 Million Strategy to be America’s Stem Cell Leader
As part of his directive to provide $5 million in state funding to companies involved with stem cell research, Governor Jim Doyle today announced funding for Stem Cell Products, Inc. The funding will support the company’s commercial research and development of processes to make safe, effective blood products from embryonic stem cells. The company was founded, in part, by UW-Madison biology Professor James Thomson who isolated the first human embryonic stem cell in 1998 - making Wisconsin the birthplace of stem cell research.
“This company is an example of the enormous potential of embryonic stem cell research not only to heal illness but to create new, high paying jobs in Wisconsin,” Governor Doyle said. “As Governor, I’ll continue fighting to make sure that top researchers and embryonic stem cell companies are welcomed with open arms and have the strong support of the state. Their work will save lives, transform our economy and open the doors to the jobs of the future.”
Stem Cell Products, Inc. (SCP), founded by UW researchers James Thomson, Igor Slukvin and Dong Chen with others, will receive $750,000 in loans and a $250,000 grant from the Wisconsin Department of Commerce. The company has also been designated as a Qualified New Business Venture for investor tax credits under the Angel Investor and Venture Fund Tax Credit Programs.
The company will initially concentrate on process improvements in the manufacture and delivery of embryonic stem cell derived red blood cells and platelets. The company intends to develop techniques to permit industrial-scale manufacturing of embryonic stem cell derived blood products for human clinical use.
Platelets are in short supply and are needed by the U.S. military for transfusions into soldiers wounded in battle. The military is interested in the technology that Stem Cell Products is developing that would make platelets available to combat theater area hospitals. Currently, the military flies wounded soldiers from Iraq to hospitals in Germany so they can have access to platelets.
“Blood platelets are a critical, lifesaving medical resource, but they are in short supply. Using advances from embryonic stem cell research, this company could revolutionize the process and help save lives,” Doyle added. “U.S. soldiers serving in combat could be among the first to benefit. The U.S. military has a significant need for platelets for soldiers who have been wounded. The technology being developed by this company could make platelets more available at military hospitals in combat zones.”
“We are pleased and honored to be the recipient of this grant and loan, and we thank the State of Wisconsin and Governor Doyle for the confidence placed in stem cell technology and SCP,” said Nick Seay, Senior Vice President for SCP. “The scientist founders of our company have demonstrated that important components of the blood system can be produced from human embryonic stem cells in culture. Now our company is working hard is to scale up these processes to supply blood products for human health.”
Governor Doyle also met with Dan and Chris Rotert and their 13-year old son Zack, who was diagnosed with diabetes one year ago. Zack tests his blood sugar 8 times a day and takes about 6 shots of insulin a day. Zack will be insulin dependent until a cure for diabetes is found.
The Governor also vowed to continue to veto any legislation that makes its way to his desk that would be harmful to embryonic stem cell research in Wisconsin. In 2005, Governor Doyle vetoed attempts by the Wisconsin State Legislature to criminalize the most promising techniques used in this research.
Over the last three years, Governor Doyle has vastly expanded the state’s investment in this critical field and set a goal that the state should capture 10% of the stem cell market by 2015. He also launched a $750 million initiative to develop stem cell research and biotechnology in Wisconsin. The centerpiece of this effort is the planned construction of the Institutes for Discovery in Madison.
In September, Governor Doyle announced a historic stem cell research partnership agreement that will pave the way for thousands of stem cell research jobs in Wisconsin. The Governor also announced new state financial incentives to help lure companies to our state, and help achieve his goal of capturing 10 percent of the stem cell market by 2015.
Specifically, the Doyle administration has reached an agreement with the Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation (WARF), which holds patents and royalty rights on some of the most promising stem cell lines in the world. Under this agreement, all companies conducting research at non-profit and academic institutions located in Wisconsin will receive a free non-exclusive research license under the stem cell patents held by WARF for that sponsored research. In other words, they will not have to pay royalty fees to WARF for that research that would be required if the research was conducted in another state. The agreement will give the state a significant competitive advantage over California and other states.
Experts predict that the market for stem cell products could reach $10 billion over the next ten years, translating into more than 100,000 jobs. In April, Governor Doyle set out to capture 10 percent of that market to ensure Wisconsin keeps its status as the leader and pioneer in stem cell research and development, and add tens of thousands high-end biotechnology jobs.
Currently, Wisconsin has a biotechnology workforce of 30,000 that generates nearly $8 billion for the economy.
Right-o. Now that you've had your daily rant, why don't you take a pill for your condition?
ReplyDeleteSo remind me why the government should subsidize something private industry should be paying for? I'm still confused.
ReplyDelete"So remind me why the government should subsidize something private industry should be paying for? I'm still confused."
ReplyDeleteThis is how basic research is conducted in the United States across the broad specturm of science -- the initial research is done with funding from the US government. This is how scientific research has been conducted for 50+ years.
All the proponents of embryonic stem cell research ask is that it be treated in the same manner as cancer research, diabetes research, etc.
Jim, "anony" is partially right.
ReplyDeleteHowever, he forgets that Big Pharma conducts its own research, not Gummint-funded; and there are plenty of other non-Gummint-funded research operations ongoing.
Note that he buries the BabyKilling aspect of ESCR: "...we just want to be treated equal..." as though the you or I should send money (at GUNPOINT) to finance Mengele-like activity.
I say: let's treat baby-killers the same way they treat babies.
THAT'S equal!!
Debating via a Doyle Administration press release: not exactly the best way to convey independent thought, much less immunity to lying from political players.....
ReplyDeleteUmhhhnnn..
ReplyDeleteIt's often the case, Calvin, that Darth's defenders don't have rational debating points.
Embryonic stem cell research uses fertilized eggs which are destined for the medical waste incinerator; like Jean d'Arc, they are certain to be burned at the stake. If this be 'baby killing" then where is your outrage at IVF, which consigns thousands of little ones to a certain death every year?
ReplyDeleteMr. Pot -- meet Mr. Kettle!
The press release makes the unrefuted point that there is a start-up business in Madison which is about to begin manufacturing the first commercially-viable embryonic stem cell product. In other words, the viability of ESCR is about to be proven.
You lose, Daddy-Zero, just as you lost the election. Enjoy the next four years.
Well, anony, that's a good point. But don't assume that I, personally, think that "fertilizing eggs" for later use is a good idea.
ReplyDeleteIn fact, it's as un-natural as killing them off later.
But you knew that, right?
As to the DoD utilization: doesn't make it any better, whatsoever, period.
Killing people to save others is still Mengele-an, regardless of the SIZE of the killee.
And by the way--we WON on the gay marriage referendum--and a gridlock pic in Madistan or DC is also a 'win,' but for everyone---
"...a gridlock pic in Madistan ... is also a 'win,'"
ReplyDeleteBack to the original point: Gridlock in Madison on embryonic stem cell research = ZERO restrictions on such research. This is a huge defeat for Wisconsin Right to LIE and Pro-LIE Wisconsin. By the time Doyle's term ends, it will be obvious to even the most obtuse that such research will, indeed, yield cures and treatments. At that point it will be politically impossible to impose restrictions.
This is why Wisconsin Right to LIE and Pro-LIE Wisconsin were so driven to block the research.
Your stunning argumentation and impeccable logic win the day.
ReplyDeleteWe're sending you the Mengele Prize. Only slightly used; first recipient was Margaret Sanger--next was Hugo Black.