Obama carries out his Promise to Overturn Bush-era Stem Cell Policy

As promised last week, President Obama signed the executive order on the stem cell issue today. He was very critical in his remarks to scientists watching President Obama sign the bill in the East Room. He was highly criticized how President Bush poorly handled science when he was in office. As he put it, "Promoting science isn't just about providing resources, it is also about protecting free and open inquiry," Obama said. "It is about letting scientists like those here today do their jobs, free from manipulation or coercion, and listening to what they tell us, even when it's inconvenient especially when it's inconvenient. It is about ensuring that scientific data is never distorted or concealed to serve a political agenda and that we make scientific decisions based on facts, not ideology." Political reaction was split down party lines for the most part, as Democrats praised his actions, and Republicans highly criticized his actions saying that they were wrong. Some of the Republicans did praise Obama's actions.
But what did Obama actually do by signing the bill today, providing more federal funds to Embryonic Stem Cell Research? In his campaign Obama said he would signed the order that on stem cell research that supporters believe could uncover cures for serious ailments from diabetes to paralysis. Some of his supporters included Nancy Reagan, late actor Christopher Reeves, Senator Ted Kennedy, Senator Harry Reid, and Republican Governor Arnold Schwarzenagger.
The president continued, "I cannot guarantee that we will find the treatments and cures we seek. No president can promise that. But I can promise that we will seek them actively, responsibly, and with the urgency required to make up for lost ground." "When government fails to make these investments, opportunities are missed. Promising avenues go unexplored, "Obama said.
When it came to human cloning, he said, "We will develop strict guidelines, which we will rigorously enforce, because we cannot ever tolerate misuse or abuse," Obama said. "And we will ensure that our government never opens the door to the use of cloning for human reproduction. It is dangerous, profoundly wrong, and has no place in our society, or any society."

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Obama to Overturn a Ban on Stem Cell Research dating back to President George W. Bush

Barack Obama is slated to sign an executive order to overturn the executive order signed by President George W. Bush in August 2001, which barred the national Instututes of health from funding research on embryonic stem cells beyond using 60 cell lines that existed at that time.
Embryonic stem cells are blank cells found in four- to five-day-old embryos, which have the ability to turn into any cell in the body. However, when stem cells are removed, the embryo is destroyed -- which has made this one of the most controversial medical research fields in the past decade. Eight years ago, it was thought that stem cell research could not happen without the destruction of living human embryos, but according to House Minority Leader John Boehner, R-Ohio, claims that this is no longer true. Thus it should be safe now.
In a related story, a 42-year-old man that had HIV (aids), who received stem cells, now appears to be free from from HIV. It has been two years since his transplantation of the cells, and he shows no signs of HIV disease and uses no medication. In yet another story, Fedeeral regulators say the coast is clear to start the first human trials of human embryonic stem-cell research. They will be tested first on patients with spinal cord injuries, called complete spinal cord injuries. This is one such injury where at this time there is no hope of recovery below the injury. There will be a two-fold purpose for trials on human patients. First, to see if injecting patients with these cells are safe, and then to actually see if there is any type of recovery after the injection.

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Now, A Future in Stem Cell Research

By DAN CHILDS
ABC News Medical Unit
Nov. 11, 2008


For Dr. George Daley, Sen. Barack Obama's recent victory in the U.S. presidential election was a hopeful sign for an issue he holds close to his heart -- and which he believes has the potential to save lives.

Researchers are hopeful that President-elect Barack Obama will make good on his promise to lift the long-standing ban on federal funding for embryonic stem cell research.

The issue is stem cell research, and Daley, immediate past president of the International Society for Stem Cell Research, says that, since the election, hopes have been high that the next four years could signal an era of greater flexibility for scientists in the field.

"We are hopeful that removing restrictions on funding for stem cells will be one of the first acts of the Obama presidency," Daley said.

"In the research community, we would all breathe a sigh of relief."

The restrictions, which have been in place since 1994, have been seen by many in the field as a stifling force. Though such research was still possible through private and state dollars, the creation of and experimentation on such lines quickly became taboo for many universities and other research centers under fear of scrutiny.

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