President Bush deserves a great deal of credit (and he could certainly use some these days) for how well he has handled the issue of embryonic stem cell research, and stem cell research generally, during his two terms. Thanks in no small part to the impetus provided by his policy, the science has now caught up with the ethics, so to speak. Pluripotent stem cells (i.e. stem cells which have the potential to work as any cell of the body) are now being produced without the destruction of any embryos. And the preceding link just references one avenue of research in that regard. The president spoke to the subject yesterday:

Researchers value embryonic stem cells because they are pluripotent — which means that they have the potential to develop into nearly all the cell types and tissues in the body. Researchers are now developing promising new techniques that offer the potential to produce pluripotent stem cells — without having to destroy human life.

For example, several new studies released earlier this month showed the potential of reprogramming adult cells — such as skin cells — to make them function like embryonic stem cells. It’s exciting new research taking place in the United States of America. Scientists from all over the country hailed this as an important breakthrough. And I’m pleased to report to you that my administration and the NIH helped fund this exciting work. The taxpayers’ dollars are going to new kinds of therapies, new kinds of science, new kinds of work that do not cross a moral and ethical line.

A few months earlier, scientists discovered that cells extracted from amniotic fluid and placentas could also provide stem cells that seem to do what embryonic cells can. Still other researchers are investigating how to combine reprogramming and other innovative techniques to produce stem cells with the abilities of embryonic stem cells — without creating or destroying embryos. There’s a lot of interesting work going on that’s ethical and moral. Scientists are exploring ways to collect stem cells in the same manner that doctors now rescue organs from patients who have died.

What’s remarkable is that President Bush is still being accused of being “anti-science” by people for whom the real scientific advances in this area are completely irrelevant; all that they see is a political issue on which they believe they can win. Yet, the science has developed to the point where anyone who is still screaming about taxpayer funding for embyronic stem cell research is rapidly beginning to look like someone who wants to destroy human embryos just for the sheer hell of it.

The world of research has gone berserk
Too much paperwork
Albert’s in the grave-yard, Frankie’s raising hell
I’m beginning to believe what the scriptures tell

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