'A Sad Way of Doing Big Science'; Stanford's Christopher Thomas Scott on America's stem-cell research.(Interview)(Brief article)

Newsweek International, July, 2006 by Barrett, Jennifer

Byline: Jennifer Barrett

Stem cells that come from days-old human embryos hold vast promise to cure diseases, but in 2001 the U.S. government withheld funding for research on new stem-cell lines. Private funding is flowing to new programs at Harvard and elsewhere, but there's a lot of lost ground to make up, says Christopher Thomas Scott, executive director of Stanford University's Program on Stem Cells and Society. He spoke with NEWSWEEK's Jennifer Barrett:

NEWSWEEK: How has the cut-off of federal funds affected stem-cell research?

SCOTT: In 2002, U.S. scientists were prominent. Now, not so much. It's folks from Israel, the United Kingdom, Australia, Singapore and China--places where stem-cell research is permitted, even encouraged. ...

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