Stem cell research has the potential to treat ailments such as Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease, spinal cord injury, stroke, diabetes, heart disease, osteoarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis.
Stem cells are significant to medical research beacuse they can potentially transform into any one of 220 specialized human cells, such as those that create insulin in the human pancreas. The goal of this research is to transplant specialized stem cells into a patients in order to treat diseases.
With this in mind, it is alarming that the Wisconsin Senate passed a human cloning ban Wednesday that reaches far beyond merely banning \human"" cloning by restricting stem cell research.
The significant advances in stem cell research achieved at UW-Madison are a chief reason our instituiton was recently named the nation's number one research university by Washington Monthly magazine. UW-Madison professor James Thomson was the first in the world to cultivate stem cells in 1998 and last year university scientists discovered a method to cultivate stem cells in a manner that maximizes the number which can be used.
Currently, the university has more than 30 faculty members involved in stem cell research. Hoping to establish Wisconsin as a national biomedical leader, Gov. Jim Doyle has allocated $375 million for the Wisconsin Institute of Discovery, which will conduct extensive stem cell research. His commitment to stem cell research and other groundbreaking studies is promising for the future of UW-Madison and Wisconsin.
The state Senate's decision to limit stem cell research will dramatically slow future accomplishments at UW-Madison along with the flow of talented researchers to our university.
If Wisconsin does not maintain its prominence in the area of stem cell research, many others will happily step into its place. California passed a stem cell research bond measure in 2004 allocating $3 billion to stem cell research. New Jersey plans to invest $380 million in stem cell research. Even the U.S. House of Representatives passed a bill in May to begin providing federal funding for stem cell research.
We commend Gov. Doyle for realizing the medical, economic and literal step backwards this bill embodies and look forward to his upcoming veto.
