HARVARD IS OPENING A NEW CENTER FOR STEM CELL RESEARCH:

Set to be announced in April, the stem cell plan will bring together researchers from Harvard and all of the Harvard-affiliated hospitals to unlock the mysteries of a type of cell that has the potential to develop into any healthy tissue in the body, but has triggered ethical controversy over the way it is created. Though not housed in a central building, the initiative will be large, even by Harvard standards, with a fund-raising goal of about $100 million, according to the scientists involved.

The move by Harvard, one of the nation’s top centers for biomedical research, marks a declaration of independence from the rules surrounding federal science funding and signals increasing frustration among American stem cell scientists. Embryonic stem cells, they say, hold tremendous promise to cure diseases such as Parkinson’s and diabetes. Yet President Bush, citing concerns about the use of fertilized human egg cells in research, sharply curtailed government support for the research in 2001.

The federal government doesn’t fund this sort of research, but it’s not illegal, though some people would like for it to be.

Note, too, this article saying that U.S. researchers are losing their edge in stem cell research because of the federal funding ban.

Antitechnology sentiment has seriously damaged Europe’s biotechnology industry. Since I’d rather not see that happen here, I’m glad to see non-government sources stepping up to the plate. (Via The Speculist).