UCSF Should Benefit From Stem-Cell Research Reversal
Synapse Staff Report
In a move with big implications for future research at UCSF, President Obama has reversed the strict limits the administration of George W. Bush placed on federal funding of stem-cell research.
“Today, with the executive order I am about to sign, we will bring the change that so many scientists and researchers, doctors and innovators, patients and loved ones have hoped for, and fought for, these past eight years: We will lift the ban on federal funding for promising embryonic stem cell research,” the president said from the East Room of the White House on March 9. “We will also vigorously support scientists who pursue this research. And we will aim for America to lead the world in the discoveries it one day may yield.”
UCSF Chancellor Michael Bishop was among the scientists present when President Obama made the announcement.
Obama’s executive order will allow thousands of scientists to study hundreds of lines of cells that have been developed since Bush put the limitations in place. “I will now be applying to the NIH for a project involving human embryonic stem cell lines and a strategy for identifying stem cells that generate specific types of nerve cells,” said Arnold Kriegstein, MD, PhD, director of the Eli and Edythe Broad Center of Regeneration Medicine and Stem Cell Research at UCSF. “I would not have proposed this experimental approach using the older, federally approved lines.”
In his remarks, President Obama addressed the issues raised by stem-cell research:
“Medical miracles do not happen simply by accident. They result from painstaking and costly research, from years of lonely trial and error, much of which never bears fruit, and from a government willing to support that work. From life-saving vaccines, to pioneering cancer treatments, to the sequencing of the human genome -- that is the story of scientific progress in America. …
“In recent years, when it comes to stem cell research, rather than furthering discovery, our government has forced what I believe is a false choice between sound science and moral values. In this case, I believe the two are not inconsistent. As a person of faith, I believe we are called to care for each other and work to ease human suffering. I believe we have been given the capacity and will to pursue this research -- and the humanity and conscience to do so responsibly. …
“But after much discussion, debate and reflection, the proper course has become clear. The majority of Americans -- from across the political spectrum, and from all backgrounds and beliefs – have come to a consensus that we should pursue this research; that the potential it offers is great, and with proper guidelines and strict oversight, the perils can be avoided.
“That is a conclusion with which I agree. And that is why I am signing this executive order, and why I hope Congress will act on a bipartisan basis to provide further support for this research.”
At UCSF, the changes announced by President Obama will reduce the need for researchers to maintain separate laboratories for approved federal research and for embryonic stem cell research that is not federally funded.
“We will be able to literally and figuratively take down the barriers and create a continuous human embryonic stem cell research laboratory environment,” says UCSF’s Kriegstein. “Moreover, investigators in existing laboratories scattered on both the Parnassus and Mission Bay campuses will now be able to freely bring human embryonic stem cell lines – including new ones created at UCSF – into their NIH-funded laboratories.”
Obama also issued a presidential memorandum aimed at insulating scientific decisions across the federal government from political influence, ensuring that scientific advisers are appointed because of “their credentials and experience, not their politics or ideology.” The Bush administration was frequently accused of meddling with science for political reasons. Obama made it clear those days were over:
“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.”
He said his memorandum is meant to restore “scientific integrity to government decision-making.”
Among those present at Obama’s announcement was Harold Varmus, who won a Nobel Prize while at UCSF and who now co-chairs the President’s Council of Advisers on Science and Technology.
“We view what happened with stem cell research in the last administration as one manifestation of failure to think carefully about how federal support of science and the use of scientific advice occurs,” Varmus said. Today’s executive order “is consistent with the president’s determination to use sound scientific practice . . . instead of dogma in developing federal policy.”