Who is funding stem cell research? What role is federal funding playing in determining research priorities?
Many private foundations and for-profit biotechnology companies fund stem cell research, but the federal government (especially through the National Institutes of Health) remains the largest source of funds. The government’s funding priorities have a large influence on the direction that medical research takes. Since available research funds began being diverted toward exploring embryonic stem cell research, some very promising adult stem cell avenues for treating juvenile diabetes, spinal cord injury, Parkinson’s disease, etc. have been underappreciated and underfunded. Many advances in these fields have emerged from other countries. What is human cloning and how is it related to stem cell research? In human cloning, the DNA from the nucleus of a person’s body cell is inserted into an egg whose own genetic material has been removed, and the egg is then stimulated to begin embryonic development. The resulting cloned embryo would genetically be an almost identical twin to the person sup
