Michael Fumento

Christopher Reeve supported ESC research because he thought it would help him, not future generations. Likewise for such influential advocates as Michael J. Fox and Michael Kinsley. But while there are over 70 treatments or cures with adult stem cells and about 1,300 clinical trials there has yet to be a single clinical trial with ESCs and none are planned for the near future. Much more common are claims by people like USC's Hans Keirstead, who says he'll begin clinical trials "next year." It must be true because he's been saying it since 2002. ESC lobbyists have their excuses lined up as to why progress is so slow but they don't wash. ESCs are simply incredibly difficult to work with . Says who? How about James Thomson, whose lab initiated the first human ESC cell line back in 1998. He also puts the kibosh on claims that all the wonderful ESC miracles are just ten years away. He uses the term "decades," meaning 20 years minimum and a maximum of . . . ? Read about it in my article in the May issue of The American Spectator.