Critics slate ethical leeway in California stem-cell proposal
By Jonathan Knight,
Nature
| 09. 16. 2004
Opponents of California's $3-billion plan to fund embryonic
stem-cell research say that the proposal would give researchers carte
blanche to rewrite well-established ethical guidelines to suit their
needs.
They say the research institute planned
under the initiative will be exempt from legislative supervision and,
if established, will be able to make its own rules about conflicts of
interest and informed consent.
Proponents are
reacting angrily to the charges, saying that the proposal provides the
highest possible level of accountability and will serve as a model of
how science can be funded at the state level.
The
California Stem Cell Research and Cures Initiative will appear as
Proposition 71 on the ballot in the elections due on 2 November. If
passed, it will authorize a bond issue of nearly $3 billion over ten
years to fund embryonic stem-cell research and infrastructure. It will
create the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine to distribute
the funds.
But public opinion is sharply divided on
the proposition, with 45% in favour and 42% opposed. A California
columnist has branded it an "audacious raid on the...
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