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SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 22, 2009
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 ANALYSIS 
5

Gore, Righties Bond Over Non-Embryonic Stem Cells

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(Newser) – Some conservatives see recent investments by Al Gore’s venture-capital group into stem-cell research involving a non-embryonic variety as a tacit denial of that more invasive method, the New Scientist reports. Gore’s company has put $20 million into a project researching treatment with induced pluripotent stem cells, which do not require an embryo to produce. But scientists see no message in the investment.

“Here and now, one can” study stem cells without destroying an embryo, one blogger wrote. “It just makes sense. Gore apparently thinks so too, and he's not an idiot, right?” But pluripotent cells are just another path, not a replacement for embryonic, researchers say, and neither has been proven. The money from Gore “is a financial investment in science, and should not be interpreted as an ethical investment,” one researcher said.

Al Gore.
Al Gore.   (AP Photo)
A single cell is removed from a human embryo to be used in generating embryonic stem cells for scientific research.
A single cell is removed from a human embryo to be used in generating embryonic stem cells for scientific research.   (AP Photo)
Stem cell researcher Tadashi Sato, not seen, adds growth medium to a dish where stem cells are grown.
Stem cell researcher Tadashi Sato, not seen, adds growth medium to a dish where stem cells are grown.   (AP Photo)
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Clinical 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. - Robert Lanza, Advanced Cell Technology

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5 comments
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Caps
Apr 20, 09 5:15 PM CDT
Lets wait and see if any Repubican put anymoney into this. Bet they don't, but they will be willing to try cures Reply
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paul123
Apr 20, 09 7:15 PM CDT
Correct me sombody if i'm incorrect, but haven't the advances that we've had up to this point in stem cell research come from adult, not stem cell research? I see more repubs putting money into this than you may think. Reply
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IN RESPONSE:
paul123
Apr 20, 09 7:16 PM CDT
oops, should read: "adult, not embryonic stem cells".
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IN RESPONSE:
Rob
Apr 21, 09 5:55 AM CDT
Only in the US. Overseas researchers have been going ahead with this research and have been doing very well.
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kirei_gaisuto
Apr 20, 09 9:18 PM CDT
I agree Paul. I wasn't really against the stem cell research, despite my pro-life leanings (hey if they're just gonna throw them away anyway, might as well make them useful), but it seems like the argument is going be moot pretty soon. Reply
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