The voters in California will have an oppurunity to vote on a ballot measure that would dedicate $3 billion to human embryonic stem cell experiments.
This project, if enacted, would dwarf all current research funding in the field.
news.yahoo.com
SAN FRANCISCO - Silicon Valley tycoons, Nobel laureates and Hollywood celebrities are backing a measure on California's Nov. 2 ballot to devote $3
billion to human embryonic stem cell experiments in what would be the biggest-ever state-supported scientific research program in the country.
The measure — designed to get around the Bush administration's restrictions on the funding of such research — would put California at the very
forefront of the field. It would dwarf all current stem cell projects in the United States, whether privately or publicly financed.
Proposition 71 promises to be one of the most contentious election issues in California, pitting scientists, sympathetic patients who could benefit
from stem cells and biotechnology interests against the Roman Catholic Church and conservatives opposed to the research because it involves destroying
days-old embryos and cloning.
What's more, cell research has emerged as a major campaign issue between President Bush (news - web sites) and John Kerry (news - web sites), who
promises if elected to reverse Bush's 2001 policy restricting federal funding of such experiments to only those cell lines already in existence
Please visit the link provided for the complete story.
This measure IMHO is going to be the best way around the ultra right wing influenced Bush decision regarding human embryonic stem cell research. By
financing the research over 10 years, the state will also create jobs and potentially become a center for cell research.
Related News Links:
www.noonprop71.org
www.curesforcalifornia.com
story.news.yahoo.com
[edit on 8-27-2004 by Valhall]