U.S. Stem Cell Ruling Invites Asian Competition

Jonathan Moreno expresses concern over losing out to Asian competitors on stem cell research as a result of the recent U.S. court decision barring federal funding.

The ink had barely dried on last week’s U.S. court decision barring the National Institutes of Health from funding embryonic stem cell grants when I received this message from the second annual Stem Cells Asia Regenerative Medicine Congress, which meets in Seoul on October 26 through 28:

"Dear Jonathan Moreno,

—‰’Halt to U.S. Stem Cell Funding May Thwart Search for New Cures’ — Bloomberg News

"This is one of the most pertinent reasons why stakeholders of the stem cells arena are now moving to Asia to leverage on Asia’s laissez-faire regulations and capitalize on Asia’s growth potential in stem cell research and application."

And I was in fact quoted in that Bloomberg News story as follows:

"This is a catastrophe. "…It’s now possible that the United States is now taken out of embryonic stem cell research."

The above excerpt was originally published in San Jose Mercury. Click here to view the full article.

The positions of American Progress, and our policy experts, are independent, and the findings and conclusions presented are those of American Progress alone. A full list of supporters is available here. American Progress would like to acknowledge the many generous supporters who make our work possible.