The new low.

[Xavier_Onassis]

but if it wasn`t for the ban wouldn`t it be unlikely for other research for alternate sources of stemcells to be made?

meaning one discovery will indermine others from being made.
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This is also true. No doubt experimentation using cells other than stem cells to generate cells for new organs or to repair deficient organs hastened this technology. 

Corn ethanol is probably doomed, because it consumes more oil than it saves. The best way to get ethanol would be to import it from places where it can be made from sugarcane using more manual labor.

A substitute for oil must be found. Natural gas is the most readily available, and the technology to run cars on it is developed and used extensively in Europe. In France, gas stations sell Diesel (Gasoil), two grades of gasoline, and Natural Gas. It costs about 1000 Euros to convert a car to run on Gas. You start the car on gasoline and switch it over to gas. It gets better mileage and runs cleaner. I drove a 1989 Volvo wagon with this conversion from Southern France through Pau to San Sebastian, Spain in 2003. It ran fine. But natural gas will also run out, and we need some means of using electricity or hydrogen cells to replace it.

[kimba1]

I got no concept of hydrogen feulcells
My spider sense tell me it see`s no advantage thogh
doesn`t it need to be manufactured?
meaning it will always be costly
note in talk of energy ,cost isn`t much of a factor
green to me mean more excuse to get money out of my pocket.

[Michael Tee]

It's naive and silly to think that a government ban on federal funds for human fetal stem cell research will not inhibit progress in that field.

Available funding is not limitless.  There's a finite sum available.  If one of the sources is choked off, projects may have to be put on hold while alternative funding is found.  If the total funds available for all U.S. human fetal stem cell research are maxed out, and a prior contributor, the Fed, has gone off-stream, then somewhere, somebody's research project is put on permanent hold or scrubbed, when (had the Federal source not gone off-stream) it would have continued, funded.  This is elementary.  I'm very surprised that such an elementary proposition needs to be explained to anyone here in this forum.

To those parents of special-needs children, hoping against hope for new scientific solutions, some of which have as good a chance as any of coming out of stem-cell research, the banning of Federal funds for human fetal stem cell research comes as a direct slap in the face.

Any claim that banning Federal funding for any type of scientific investigation will not impede research on the subject is disingenuous.  Federal funding for all scientific research, particularly in the life sciences fields, should be INCREASED across the board, not selectively cut back except in the clearest cases of fraud or lack of scientific value.

[Plane]

There is absolutely no potential stem cell treatment for Downs syndrome .

As far as any one who has contributed here today knows there are no special needs children in need of stem cell therapys . No one has found a research project  attempting to find a stem cell treatment for any sort of mental retardation.

Therefore I hereby proclaim it resolved that Biden is ignorant ,and mean.

[richpo64]

>>It's naive and silly to think that a government ban on federal funds for human fetal stem cell research will not inhibit progress in that field.<<

This makes no sense at all. The government has made no law impeding fetal stem cell research. Can research only be done by the government and with government money? The truth is it's not worth the effort and the scientific community knows it. This kind of argument is like the "increases are cuts" nonsense we hear from the left about budgeting.

[Amianthus]

I got no concept of hydrogen feulcells
My spider sense tell me it see`s no advantage thogh
doesn`t it need to be manufactured?
meaning it will always be costly
note in talk of energy ,cost isn`t much of a factor
green to me mean more excuse to get money out of my pocket.

Yes, it takes energy to separate the hydrogen from whatever source you're using. But that energy can come from source that are not mobile (wind generators, tidal generators, solar cells, etc). Once the hydrogen has been separated, the fuel cell can run on it.

[BT]

I like the X prize concept.

Put your money where your ideas are.

[Michael Tee]

<<There is absolutely no potential stem cell treatment for Downs syndrome .>>

That is patently untrue. 

<<As far as any one who has contributed here today knows there are no special needs children in need of stem cell therapys .>>

Of course not.  The hope is that stem cell research has the potential to point the way towards cures or treatments of many pathologies, there is no logical reason why Down syndrome might not be one of them.

<< No one has found a research project  attempting to find a stem cell treatment for any sort of mental retardation.>>

Of course not - - the stem cell research is aimed at the basic mechanisms of cell differentiation, when that is fleshed out, there will be many applications that flow from it.  Some may very well be useful in treating Down syndrome or any other scourge of humanity.

<<Therefore I hereby proclaim it resolved that Biden is ignorant ,and mean.>>

I hereby nullify your proclamation and declare it void and of no effect.

[Amianthus]

there is no logical reason why Down syndrome might not be one of them

Do you understand what causes Down's Syndrome?

[Michael Tee]

I haven't really looked into the causes of Down syndrome, but I would expect it's some kind of damaged gene or genes.

Here ya go - - from Wikipedia - -

<<Down syndrome, Down's syndrome, or trisomy 21 is a chromosomal disorder caused by the presence of all or part of an extra 21st chromosome. >>

Exactly the kind of stuff that a study of cell differentiation could shed light on.

[Amianthus]

Exactly the kind of stuff that a study of cell differentiation could shed light on.

As far I know, no proposed stem cell research will be used to replace the nucleus of every cell in the body, which is what is needed for a "cure" for Down's Syndrome. Stem cell research is being done to study the replacement of damaged or degenerate tissue, especially nerve cells. This is not a cause of Down's Syndrome.

Look up the diseases that are being researched for a possible treatment with stem cells - Down's Syndrome is not on the list. Nor will you find any other syndrome that is caused by base chromosomal errors. The research being done to correct these involves the use of retro viruses to "rewrite" the DNA and eliminate the problem.

[Xavier_Onassis]

>>That would be the restriction on federal funding of stem cell research.<<

How does that pose a restriction on research?

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If you cannot afford even a bus ticket, are you not restricted from travel to some degree?

[sirs]

Who's preventing anyone from making money to afford a bus ticket??

[Xavier_Onassis]

>>That would be the restriction on federal funding of stem cell research.<<

How does that pose a restriction on research?

============================================================
If you cannot afford even a bus ticket, are you not restricted from travel to some degree?

Who's preventing anyone from making money to afford a bus ticket??

=============================================================
Okay, a simple analogy is too complex for you.

Any money source denied to stem cell research restricts the amount of money that can be spent on stem cell research.

[kimba1]

on stem cells
it`s not restricted to down syndrone.
this talk is a good example of how easily people can pigeon hole ourselves in thought.
which I think research in general can be a victim of getting in .
even if no cure is made the data itself may possibly be used for other applications.