Stem Cell Research and the State of the Union Address

Bush speech highlights Wisc. stem-cell research: Dispute in funding ofembryonic stem cells still remains

By: Charles BraceThe Daily Cardinal
January 30, 2008

President Bush mentioned his support for a Wisconsin breakthrough instem-cell research in his State of the Union address, but his commentsare receiving a mixed reaction.

President George W. Bush gave his annual State of the Union addressMonday, and his remarks on stem-cell research will likely reverberate inWisconsin for the last year of his term.Bush said he was in favor of funding the medical breakthrough byUW-Madison and Japanese researchers that reprogram skin cells to actlike embryonic stem cells."This breakthrough has the potential to move us beyond the divisivedebates of the past by extending the frontiers of medicine without thedestruction of human life," Bush said. "We must also ensure that alllife is treated with the dignity it deserves."

He also said he wanted Congress to ban buying, selling, or cloning of"human life."

Ed Fallone, president of the advocacy group Wisconsin Stem Cell Now,Inc., said the new research on skin cells should not be favored overother avenues of research involving embryonic stem cells.Fallone said it is unrealistic to favor non-embryonic stem-cell researchwhen it is unknown if it will be as effective as research involvingembryos.

The emphasis on the skin-cell research, according to Fallone, could alsohurt funding for experiments that are already ongoing involvingembryonic cells."I hope Congress will ignore this unrealistic call to impose a morallitmus test on medical research," Fallone said.

Ronald Kalil, a UW-Madison professor of ophthalmology and visualsciences who does stem-cell research, said it was important to rememberreprogrammed skin cells do not have the same sets of genes as theembryonic cells.This difference could mean they cannot replicate indefinitely likeembryonic cells, Kalil said, but it is difficult to predict because fewspecifics are known on the new research.The reprogrammed skin cells could solve the problem of a patient's bodyrejecting donated tissue, according to Kalil, because the cells couldcome from a patient's own body.

Kalil said Bush's favoring for skin cell research could improve fundingin Wisconsin. He also said it was unlikely embryonic-cell researchfunding would suffer until the new method is proven successful.

Andrew Cohn, governmental affairs director for the WiCell ResearchInstitute at UW-Madison, said Bush's comments were disappointing. Hesaid the breakthrough in November with skin cells would not have beenpossible without embryonic stem-cell research.