Snappy newsletters. Simple Facebook sharing. Spirited comments. Sweet features are waiting… GET THEM NOW!

Hot on Facebook
Man Tries to Order Priciest Starbucks Drink Ever Total cost: $23.60 »

Gore, Righties Bond Over Non-Embryonic Stem Cells

By Harry Kimball,  Newser Staff

Posted Apr 20, 2009 3:52 PM CDT

(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)
« Prev« Prev | Next »Next » Slideshow

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

« Prev« Prev | Next »Next » Slideshow
To report an error on this story, notify our editors.
A snapshot of the day's best news stories.
 
COMMENTS
Showing 3 of 5 comments
paul123
Apr 21, 2009 12:16 PM CDT
oops, should read: "adult, not embryonic stem cells".
paul123
Apr 21, 2009 12:15 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.
Rob
Apr 21, 2009 10:55 AM CDT
Only in the US. Overseas researchers have been going ahead with this research and have been doing very well.

More Newser Stories

Critics Lash Gore's Green 'Profiteering'

Oklahoma Bill Would Ban Fetuses in Food

Scientists Turn Stem Cells Into Working Sperm

Judge Dismisses Suit Against Stem Cell Research

Court Overturns Stem Cell Ban


NEWS FROM OUR PARTNERS
Other Sites We Like:   24/7 Wall St.   |   Betty Confidential   |   BuzzFeed   |   Cracked   |   Fark   |   Timelines   |   The Frisky   |   Geek Sugar   |   NewsOne