Local scientist cheers Obama decision on stem cell research

In a crowded White House East Room room Monday, there were more scientists than Alan Leshner had seen in his 30 years in Washington.

"More happy scientists than I've seen," added the CEO of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, who attended the ceremony where President Barack Obama lifted the contentious Bush-era restraints on stem-cell research.

More than 2,300 miles away in Sun City, there was another happy scientist.

"For the whole scientific community, I think this is a good idea, even though embryonic stem cells are not ready for prime time, and not ready to be used in the treatment of diseases," said Dr. Mohamed Gaballa, director of the center for cardiovascular research at the Sun Health Research Institute. "But lifting the ban would allow scientists to study in the lab and answer specific questions we have in biology that will help us with other treatments, and will help a person like me down the line to make adult stem cells more effective."

Gaballa said embryonic stem cells also would be helpful for researchers to use in developing drugs to screen before introducing the drugs in human trials.

"Embryonic stem cells can be used to weed out drugs that have a toxic effect to human cells that would be a major impact," Gaballa said.

Additionally, embryonic stem cells could be used to help determine the root causes of diseases, including heart disease, juvenile diabetes and Parkinson's, Gaballa said.

"If you look at most diseases, they affect us similarly in that the cells either become damaged or have died," Gaballa said. "Research in these cells will help us down the line to understand where the problems come from."

Other researchers said Monday the new president's message was clear: Science, which once propelled men to the moon, again matters in American life.

Opponents saw it differently: a defeat for morality in the most basic questions of life and death.

"The action by the president today will, in effect, allow scientists to create their own guidelines without proper moral restraints," Family Research Council President Tony Perkins said.

Said Wendy Wright, president of Concerned Women for America: "President Obama's order places the worst kind of politics above ethics. Politics driven by hype makes overblown promises, fuels the desperation of the suffering, and financially benefits those seeking to strip morality from science. It is politics at its worst."

Rep. Trent Franks, R-Dist. 2, agreed: "The decision is grounded purely in partisan politics, since all the remarkable advances in stem cell research have used methods that did not require the destruction of human embryos," Franks said.

But many scientists focused on a new sense of freedom.

"I think patients everywhere will be cheering us on, imploring us to work faster, harder and with all of our ability to find new treatments," said Harvard Stem Cell Institute Co-director Doug Melton, father of two children with Type 1 diabetes, who could possibly be treated with stem cells. "On a personal level, it is an enormous relief and a time for celebration. ... Science thrives when there is an open and collaborative exchange, not when there are artificial barriers, silos, constructed by the government."

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Joy Slagowski may be reached at 623-876-2514, or jslagowski@yourwestvalley.com.