WILL BUSINESSES BACK EMBRYONIC STEM CELL RESEARCH?

The Stem-Cell Also-Ran: AmericaThe Bush Administration's restrictions on U.S. research will inflict major pain down the road as other countries keep advancing

By John Carey senior writer in BusinessWeek's Washington bureau
http://businessweek.com/technology/content/may2005/tc20050527_7309_tc120.htm


One advantage foreign scientists have is higher levels of government funding. Korea alone is estimated to be spending more than $100 million a year on embryonic stem-cell work, compared to a paltry $24 million last year from the National Institutes of Health.

"We're really in the Dark Ages," charges Cibelli.[ professor of animal biotechnology at Michigan State University] "We're failing at the core -- at providing the federal money that would lead to new biotechnology and new companies able to take this to patients." Unless the Administration changes its stance, many breakthroughs will continue to come from outside the U.S.