Stem Cell Now, From the Experiment That Shook the World to the New Politics of Life by Christopher Thomas Scott is one of those books that should be required reading by anyone who will be called upon to vote on the subject of stem cell research and practices. It is scientific, level-headed, fair, balanced, and extremely informative. It is written in a way that is easy for laymen to understand. It presents a short but complete history leading up to the current situation and it details where we're going depending on the choices that are being made right now.
Scott gives a glowing picture of all the might be possible with stem cell therapies and tried to place the possibilities in a time context that is realistic even though both doctors and patients don't really want to hear that side. We want cures and we want them now. He also describes the failures and the side effects. But all these are routine, like polio and smallpox.
The real issue for stem cell therapy is that it treads on religious issues and causes people to scream ethics when they really mean religion. Some religions dictate that 8-celled blastocysts be treated with the same reverence as children or adults who have Parkinson's or diabetes. Others demand that everything be done to cure diseases. Under some proposed legislation doctors and even patients who use stem cell therapy may be criminalized for using the best that science has to offer. And a whole generation of Americans may find out what it's like to be a developing nation as far as stem cell therapy is concerned as our biologist simply move to countries and institutions where research may be not only funded but legal.
Scott makes it clear - there will be stem cell research, embryonic stem cell research, and there will be major breakthroughs. The horse has left the barn and money will follow success. The question is only how soon and whether America will be a part of the success.
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