We Were Number One!

Americans sometimes need to be reminded to remove the giant, foam index finger from their fists. And that will be the case if the federal government continues to hamstring stem cell research. With other countries investing heavily in the science, the United States will soon no longer be number one in the life sciences. In […]

Zhang_neural_stem_cell1_01Americans sometimes need to be reminded to remove the giant, foam index finger from their fists.
And that will be the case if the federal government continues to hamstring stem cell research. With other countries investing heavily in the science, the United States will soon no longer be number one in the life sciences.

In the '80s, Europe proved how easy it is to lose the lead:

Between 1980 and 1984, Europe invented more than half of the world'snew drugs. Observers assumed that Europe would lead the anticipatedrevolution in biotechnology.

Today, however, American companies account for more thanthree-quarters of worldwide biotech revenue and have almost 4,500
products in development -- 2 1/2 times as many as European companies.

But it's not just the President's restrictions holding back American biologists. Read the excellent editorial to learn more.

Will We Lose the Stem Cell Race? [Washington Post]