The following is an edited excerpt.
In a sign of how much the controversy over human embryonic stem cells has waned, the most prominent lobbying group for human embryonic stem cell research announced today that, after 12 years, it is folding. The Coalition for the Advancement of Medical Research will transfer its work to another group that focuses on moving human embryonic stem cell research into the clinic.
“We are in an era where the primary issues are not federal funding for human embryonic stem cell research,” wrote coalition President Amy Comstock Rick, who is also CEO of the Parkinson’s Action Network, in an e-mail to the more than 100 patient advocacy, scientific, and other groups that belong to coalition. “Given the progress we are seeing in the field of regenerative medicine, the policy issues we now see go beyond the historical focus of [the coalition].”
Even the announcement last week that researchers have achieved the long-sought goal of making personalized hESCs using cloning techniques, which opens the door to cloning a human, hasn’t sparked much activity.
Read the full story here: Stem Cell Lobbying Group Closing Its Doors After 12 Years
