A new day for science…

“Rather than furthering discovery, our government has forced what I believe is a false choice between sound science and moral values,” Obama said. “In this case, I believe the two are not inconsistent. As a person of faith, I believe we are called to care for each other and work to ease human suffering.”

As reported in an article from the Associated Press, President Obama recently reversed Bush policies that disallowed the use of embryonic stem cells in research paid for by NIH funding (except for a select few stem cell lines that were already available, but few of those were considered useful by the scientists using them).

For those that don’t know, the NIH (National Institutes of Health) comprise the vast majority of research dollars spent in America, not only funding public entities but also private, through your tax dollars. For the most part, in order to reach tenure at a research-driven university, you need what’s known as an “R01” NIH grant, usually giving $1 million in funding for a period of 5 years (with the possibility of renewal). That’s why Bush’s policy was such a big deal. By saying that “no NIH funding will pay for embryonic stem cell research,” he essentially limited the funding to select funding bodies (e.g. foundation grants), meaning that what could have been lots of research into stem cells over the last 8 years turned into very little.

So, on the one hand, it’s a big deal that stem cell research is back in the purview of the NIH. The more important part for me, and for the rest of the country, is the other part(s) of Obama’s speech today, outlined above: political ideology will no longer play a massive role in what’s funded and what isn’t by the NIH; science will again have a voice in government; and scientific thinking will have a friend in the White House.

If evidence shows that embryonic stem cells was a stupid thing to look at, then by all means its funding will be cut. However, if it shows promise, more money will go to it and it will provide all the cures that have been promised (that remains to be seen, in my opinion…). That’s how a lot of science works, through Natural Selection: the programs that are productive, find cures and discover new treatments to help people are the ones that are favored. Government policy shouldn’t try to limit these solutions before they’re even tried, especially when based on misguided ideology and/or lobbying groups. As Obama points out:

“But let’s be clear: promoting science isn’t just about providing resources – it is also about protecting free and open inquiry. It is about letting scientists like those here today do their jobs, free from manipulation or coercion, and listening to what they tell us, even when it’s inconvenient – especially when it’s inconvenient. It is about ensuring that scientific data is never distorted or concealed to serve a political agenda – and that we make scientific decisions based on facts, not ideology.”