Michael J. Fox advocated more for embryonic stem cell research than other types of stem cell therapy. He made an advertisement video in support of Missouri US Senate candidate Clare McCaskill in 2006. She supports federal funding for embryonic stem cell research. Unfortunately, many years and a lot of money have been spent pursuing embryonic stem cell research with little to show for it. In the interview he did with Diane Sawyer (see link at bottom), it sounds as if he was mainly interested in making sure that embryonic stem cell research continued to be federally funded. I believe that those that have put all their eggs in the embryonic basket (no pun intended) may find out that other avenues are more promising, just as Mr. Fox has.
BioEdge
by Michael Cook | 19 May 2012 |
Five or six years ago the ethical dilemmas in human embryonic stem cell research were the hottest story in bioethics. One of the many celebrities promoting funding for it was Michael J. Fox, an actor whose career has been severely curtailed by Parkinson's disease. As an extremely effective patient advocate, he claimed that opponents were enemies of hope.
Now, without any fanfare, he has changed his mind. In an interview with Diane Sawyer on ABC News, Fox announced that other avenues of research are more promising:
"I'm glad that I put the effort into promoting it. My quest in that regard was really about research freedom and not shutting down avenues of research because of ideological reasons that were countered by the majority opinion of whether it was worthwhile doing. Hopefully stem cell research will result in something. I'm glad we found for it and the right to do it but there's other areas that we are pursuing...
“Stem cells are an avenue of research that we’ve pursued and continue to pursue but it’s part of a broad portfolio of things that we look at. There have been some issues with stem cells, some problems along the way...
“It’s not so much that [stem cell research has] diminished in its prospects for breakthroughs as much as it’s the other avenues of research have grown and multiplied and become as much or more promising. So, an answer may come from stem cell research but it’s more than likely to come from another area."
Fox's foundation, the Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research, is the largest private funder of Parkinson’s disease research in the world. It recently launched an on-line initiative to encourage participation in clinical trials of drugs, not stem cells.
http://news.yahoo.com/video/newsmakers-26771768/michael-j-fox-on-stem-cell-research-29331644.html
BioEdge
by Michael Cook | 19 May 2012 |
Five or six years ago the ethical dilemmas in human embryonic stem cell research were the hottest story in bioethics. One of the many celebrities promoting funding for it was Michael J. Fox, an actor whose career has been severely curtailed by Parkinson's disease. As an extremely effective patient advocate, he claimed that opponents were enemies of hope.
Now, without any fanfare, he has changed his mind. In an interview with Diane Sawyer on ABC News, Fox announced that other avenues of research are more promising:
"I'm glad that I put the effort into promoting it. My quest in that regard was really about research freedom and not shutting down avenues of research because of ideological reasons that were countered by the majority opinion of whether it was worthwhile doing. Hopefully stem cell research will result in something. I'm glad we found for it and the right to do it but there's other areas that we are pursuing...
“Stem cells are an avenue of research that we’ve pursued and continue to pursue but it’s part of a broad portfolio of things that we look at. There have been some issues with stem cells, some problems along the way...
“It’s not so much that [stem cell research has] diminished in its prospects for breakthroughs as much as it’s the other avenues of research have grown and multiplied and become as much or more promising. So, an answer may come from stem cell research but it’s more than likely to come from another area."
Fox's foundation, the Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research, is the largest private funder of Parkinson’s disease research in the world. It recently launched an on-line initiative to encourage participation in clinical trials of drugs, not stem cells.
http://news.yahoo.com/video/newsmakers-26771768/michael-j-fox-on-stem-cell-research-29331644.html