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9/25/02 <link>
STEM CELL RESEARCH 
California, as usual, the trend-setter, with just-passed law. The federal Government stays well behind, and invokes the criticisms of scientists. 

(updated 9/29/02) In the meantime, Nancy Reagan quietly tries to reach out to President Bush to reverse his stance, since she believes stem cell research can help her husband (stricken by Alzheimer's). The problem? The "pro-life" lobby believes it is "immoral" to destroy human embryos to extract stem cells. Perhaps, the most appropriate way to phrase this issue, is in the concluding paragraph of the NYT article on Nancy Reagan. Here is it: "A Republican legislator recently told Michael Deaver, a Reagan adviser and confidant, that some conservatives contend that Ronald Reagan would never have approved of embryonic stem cell research. Mr. Deaver said he retorted, 'Ronald Reagan didn't have to take care of Ronald Reagan for the last 10 years.'"

Another famous persona fighting this administration on its stem cell policy is Christopher Reeve. Here's an article where he lays out his complaints.

9/16/02 <link>
Experimental gene battles muscular dystrophy in mice
They don't yet have a way to deliver the gene to all the body's muscles, but this is a step.