By Dave Andrusko

As I was closing up shop for the weekend, I ran across an immensely detailed and very clever piece entitled, "Embryonic Stem Cells: Outmoded Science," written by Matt Bowman. A legal counsel for the Alliance Defense Fund, Mr. Bowman does an outstanding job assembling many examples of the breakthroughs using adult stem cells and what are known as induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs). IPSCs are essentially indistinguishable from embryonic stem cells (ESCs) but do not require killing human embryos.
(www.cnn.com/2010/OPINION/09/16/bowman.stem.cell.research/index.html.)

But what makes the essay such a pleasure to read at the same time it educates the reader is the colorful manner in which Bowman rightly dismisses ESC research.

"As you turn on your HDTV and watch the endless controversy over embryonic stem cell research, ask yourself: Should the government spend taxpayer dollars to develop that bulky old cathode-ray television you once owned?" Bowman writes. "As you install your $79 Blu-ray player, what if Uncle Sam was paying millions to develop Betamax videotapes? This kind of government waste is what embryonic stem cell researchers are demanding even when science itself, according to scientists such as former NIH Director Bernadine has made embryonic stem cell research obsolete."

Bowman goes on to say, "Human embryonic stem cell research is the $10,000 toilet seat of the 21st century." He quotes from one proponent who said that not funding ESC research is "pouring] sand into the engine of discovery." According to Bowman, however, the problem is that federally funded ESC research is a waste of taxpayer money on "'discovering' the equivalent of the riverboat steam engine."

He concludes, "Embryonic stem cell research should go into the dinosaur museum where it belongs."

How ironic: ESC proponents never tire of telling us how avant guarde is their "research." Truth be told, ESC research is the wave of the past.

Please send your comments on Today's News & Views and National Right to Life News Today todaveandrusko@gmail.com. If you like, join those who are following me on Twitter at http://twitter.com/daveha.