Once a universally-divisive topic, public and political sentiment against stem-cell research may slowly be eroding, according to state politicians and recent local and national political developments.
Gov. Jim Doyle's State of the State speech highlighted stem-cell research as a vital component of the university's mission and a hot economic prospect for the state.
He earmarked $5 million for companies that would find practical uses for stem cells and vowed the stated would corner 10 percent of the stem cell market, which he said he thinks could provide 100,000 jobs in a decade.
'Wisconsin has the potential to create many good-paying jobs because of our research,' said state Rep. Spencer Black, D-Madison. 'We've been at the forefront of research at the university. We can blow it if the state is perceived as hostile to stem-cell research.'
Mushrooming interest in the research has not been limited to Wisconsin. Iowa Gov. Tom Vilsack, a Democrat, called for the repeal of a 2002 state law Jan. 12 that had banned development of new stem cells, citing the possible future benefits of stem cell research.
'I think the public tide has always been in favor of stem-cell research. I think the public is overwhelmingly in support of it,' said state Sen. Fred Risser, D-Madison. 'I think the only opposition is some of the Republican obstructionists in the state Legislature.'
Republican leaders disagreed.
'I don't really see any signs that it's breaking down that way,' said Mike Prentiss, spokesperson for state Sen. Scott Fitzgerald, R-Juneau. 'All the focus on stem-cell research is maybe taking a little bit of focus away from other types of biotechnology and other avenues that the state could and should be pursuing just as aggressively as the governor is pursuing stem cells.'
'As far as public or political sentiment swing one way or another, I haven't really seen that much of it here in Wisconsin,' Prentiss added. 'I think both sides of the debate have very strongly held beliefs.'
Ethical division over the process stems from the extraction of stem cells from embryos, which some believe to be an infringement on the right to life. Additionally, many harbor fears that this research will lead to human cloning and other questionable scientific endeavors.
'I hope that more and more states and the country will realize that people are not out there killing babies and aborting fetuses for this research,' said Barbara Lewis, manager of the Wisconsin Stem Cell Research Program. 'It doesn't really make sense to put an arbitrary restriction on it.'
