you'll hear from me from jail

[rayilynlee <rayilynlee@xxxxxxx>]

when I go abroad for treatment and come back to the US,  this legislation also 
carries a million dollar fine which I can't pay so will have to go to debtor's 
prison. Ray


Vantage Point: Criminalizing science will undermine economy-and democracy

BY PAUL BERG, PHD


A near majority of senators is ready to send scientists to jail for pursuing 
research that challenges faith-based doctrine and certain individuals' personal 
values. 
Although a broad range of biologists and doctors agree that the study of 
embryonic stem cells should go forward-that it holds promise for advancing our 
fundamental understanding of human life as well as potentially leading to new 
therapies for diseases-many members of Congress are working to forbid it, 
indeed, criminalize it. Reflecting the growing political clout of social 
conservatives, these lawmakers hold that the current federal policy of 
restricting funding for such work does not go far enough. 

This threat is not only to stem cell biologists. It affects the entire 
scientific community. For when science is attacked on purely ideological 
grounds, its very integrity is at risk. 

Such a challenge to basic scientific research would have been unthinkable a few 
decades ago. Following World War II, the federal government enthusiastically 
embraced untargeted research, what some often refer to as curiosity-driven 
research. The achievements of our basic research enterprise made us the world 
leader in the physical and life sciences, fueling the economic prosperity that 
the country enjoyed for the last half of the 20th century. The public did not 
question the value of this research. The succession of breakthroughs in 
medicine, nuclear physics and information technologies, to mention a few, 
played well in the headlines and the domination by American scientists of each 
year's Nobel prizes engendered a sense of pride. 

 

----------------------------------------------------------------------
To sign-off Parkinsn send a message to: mailto:listserv@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
In the body of the message put: signoff parkinsn