You have probably all heard, at one point or another, that UW-Madison scientist Jamie Thomson was the first person in the world to grow human embryonic stem cells. You have also probably heard about the amazing promise that stem cell research has to cure scores of deadly diseases.
And you may have even heard various political candidates claiming that they are great proponents of stem cell research. However, unlike the previous two statements, such an assertion is often nowhere close to the truth.
Some elected officials and candidates certainly are undisputed champions of this rapidly-advancing science. But others simply see potential political gain in an election season.
Enter Wisconsin's gubernatorial candidates, Governor Jim Doyle and Congressman Mark Green. In the past month, Congressman Green has tried to persuade people that he really does support stem cell research. But these misleading attempts do not begin to compare to Doyle's strong, unwavering support for this technology since its birth eight years ago.
Throughout his time in office, Doyle has focused on bringing the benefits of stem cell research—both medical and economic—to Wisconsin students and families.
The evidence is right here on our campus. Doyle was instrumental in creating a new $375 million research institute—the Wisconsin Institutes for DiscoveryA-—at UW-Madison. And under his leadership, UW-Madison's WiCell Institute was selected as our country's first National Stem Cell Bank by the National Institutes of Health exactly a year ago.
There are over 110 stem-cell scientists and researchers at UW-Madison.
This intellectual power, combined with the new research facilities that Doyle has supported, is making our campus and the state of Wisconsin the worldwide hub for the latest and most significant stem cell developments.
Governor Doyle's goal is for Wisconsin to capture 10 percent of the stem cell market by 2015—a goal that could create 100,000 new jobs. And the best part is—the purpose of each of these new jobs would be to help save lives.
Green, on the other hand, approaches stem cell research with a very different view. For instance, Green has voted for or cosponsored legislation to ban or even criminalize proven methods of stem cell research—not once, not twice, but eight times!
You may have heard that President George Bush used his veto power for the first time ever this past summer to kill bipartisan legislation that would have expanded federal funding of embryonic stem cell research.
How did Green respond? By voting to uphold the president's veto! But, I guess that's to be expected of a Congressman who votes with President Bush 92 percent of the time.
In an article that ran in Monday's Daily Cardinal, Republican Party of Wisconsin spokesman Bob Delaporte said that ""the truth is all of the breakthroughs have been done on adult stem cells."" Perhaps this is why Congressmen Green is so vehemently opposed to embryonic stem cell research.
However, the best scientific opinions usually come from, well, scientists. In that same Monday article, UW-Madison professor of ophthamology and visual science Ronald E. Kalil points out that ""there is little controversy that embryonic stem cells have certain advantages that adult stem cells don't.""
The fact that many Republicans do not see eye-to-eye with the scientific community is not escaping those involved with stem cell research at UW-Madison.
A week earlier, a huge news article appeared in the Wisconsin State Journal. The headline read ""Scientists Fear Election of Mark Green Could Hurt Stem-Cell Research.""
Green doesn't want us to know about his voting record on stem cell research. That's why, last month, he introduced a so-called plan to spend $25 million on an experimental stem cell procedure that he claims could create embryonic stem cells without destroying embryos.
This may sound great on paper, but unfortunately the embryos used in this method of research ended up being destroyed.
Green's ""plan"" sure seems like it was motivated by his realization that his opposition to stem cell research is way out of step with most Wisconsin families. It is not always bad for officials to change policy positions to better reflect their constituents' views. But Green has so staunchly opposed stem cell research for so long, that voters need to recognize his election season ploy—which, as it turns out, is a research method that has not not even worked.
