Finally

someone talked to the scientists in regard to embryonic stem cell research. Although, the Wisconsin press has dropped the ball so badly that the scientists had to have a press

conference and go find the press.

In a story from yesterdays Wisconsin State Journal:

Embryonic stem cell researchers stepped away from their microscopes Tuesday to dispute gubernatorial candidate Scott’s Walker’s statements about their work and oppose the Republican’s positions.

Scientists at a news conference held in a lab at embryonic stem cell company Stemina never mentioned Walker’s name, but they said they wanted to set the record straight about the promise embryonic stem cells hold and what it would mean for Wisconsin to ban their work.

A ban could force researchers to move to other, friendlier states, said Dr. David Gamm, an assistant professor of ophthalmology at the University of Wisconsin-Madison who is using embryonic stem cells in research aimed at curing blindness.

And even though Wisconsin doesn’t directly fund embryonic stem cell research, a governor who blocks attempts to further the work or obtain future funding would put Wisconsin at a disadvantage in competition with states like California where it is actively promoted, said Dr. Tim Kamp, director of the university’s Stem Cell and Regenerative Medicine Center.

It would also hurt companies like Stemina, which is currently looking to hire two researchers, said Elizabeth Donley, the company’s chief executive officer. Stemina opened at the university’s research park in 2007, helped in part by a $1 million state grant for biotech companies, Donley said.

The company has created a test, developed with embryonic stem cell research, that helps screen drugs and chemicals for their potential to cause birth defects in pregnant women.

This is one of the issues where there is a clear choice. Ron Johnson and Scott Walker OPPOSE embryonic stem cell research while Tom Barrett and Russ Feingold support it. Scott Walker even goes so far as to say:

\"Scientists have shown us (that) the greater possibilities, the real science movement, has been with adult stem cell research. It has not been with embryonic.\"

“That is not true” Dr. Kamp said.

Embryonic stem cells, unlike other types of stem cells, can develop into any cell type and grow indefinitely, making them more valuable in research than the less flexible adult cells, Kamp said.

While I have no idea why anyone would be against finding cures for debilitating diseases, but the current batch of GOP candidates are all on board against it. Let’s not take our country back, let’s move it forward and vote Barrett/Feingold!!

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1 thought on “Finally

  1. Now if only you would listen to science when it comes to knowing that a baby’s heart starts beating 22 days after conception or the irrefutable evidence from a sonogram that there’s a separate entity of life inside the womb. But gee in that case, you say, science be damned.

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