Today is a sad day for “progressives.” They have lost a cause célèbre that has contributed much to their overweening sense of moral superiority. While they brayed about a fictional “anti-science administration” and made preposterous claims about the efficacy of stem cell research, some actual scientists have rendered the debate moot. Per the NYT:
Two teams of scientists reported yesterday that they had turned human skin cells into what appear to be embryonic stem cells without having to make or destroy an embryo — a feat that could quell the ethical debate troubling the field.
And, in a deeply ironic twist to the story, the impetus for this discovery may well have come from President Bush’s refusal to provide federal funds for the type of research that required destroying embryos:
The White House said that … “By avoiding techniques that destroy life, while vigorously supporting alternative approaches, President Bush is encouraging scientific advancement within ethical boundaries.”
It’s just as well that this hurdle has been cleared. Extravagant claims about the potential of embryonic stem cell research turn out to have been mostly hype:
For all the hopes invested in it over the last decade, embryonic stem cell research has moved slowly, with no cures or major therapeutic discoveries in sight.
So, pious progressives will have one less pretext for moral preening. On the bright side, this will give them more time to sermonize about the moral imperative of providing “universal” health care.
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