"Everything and Nothing at All"

In light of an important breakthrough in which scientists successfully manipulated skin cells to take on the qualities of pluripotent stem cells, long-time opponents of federal funding of embryonic stem cell research were quick to claim victory and vindication.

In the words of Michael Kinsley, “The issue has been agony for many Republicans, torn between the majority of voters, eager for the benefits of this scientific advance, and the small but intense minority who believe that a clump of a few dozen cells floating in a petri dish has the same human rights as you or I.”

In a compelling column recently in Time, Kinsley offered a number of reasons for why this issue will not go away - that “even the scientists who achieved the latest success believe strongly that embryonic-stem-cell research should continue”, that we can not make up for the time we have already lost, that the “moral dilemma” posed by politicians is still not real, and that “the position a politician takes on an issue (still) tells you something about his or her character, values and intellect.”

As Alan Leshner and James Thomson, two respected experts on the issue, contend - this breakthrough “changes both everything and nothing at all.”