ANN CURRY: There is a potential breakthrough in stem cell research to report this morning. Scientists have found the way to create stem cells without using human embryos. NBC's chief science correspondent Robert Bazell has more now....
ROBERT BAZELL: Many people, including President Bush, are thrilled with the research, because it does not use embryos, which have been the only source of embryonic stem cells.
But scientists warn there are technical problems ahead, especially a fear the cells created with this new technique could become cancerous. That's why many argue both this research and the embryonic stem cell studies should continue. Robert Bazell, NBC News, New York.
"Use" is not a synonym for "kill" or "destroy." NBC may have been borrowing AP style, since the AP headline was "Stem Cell Breakthrough Uses No Embryos." Reporter Malcolm Ritter took an amazing 24 paragraphs to acknowledge that embryos are destroyed in research. Here's some missed possibilities:
Paragraph one:
Scientists have made ordinary human skin cells take on the chameleon-like powers of embryonic stem cells, a startling breakthrough that might someday deliver the medical payoffs of embryo cloning without the controversy.
Why controversy? Paragraph three:
The "direct reprogramming" technique avoids the swarm of ethical, political and practical obstacles that have stymied attempts to produce human stem cells by cloning embryos.
What obstacles? Paragraph eight:
The White House lauded the papers, saying such research is what President Bush was advocating when he twice vetoed legislation to pave the way for taxpayer-funded embryo research.
Why the veto? Finally, in paragraph 24:
In cloning, those eggs are used to make embryos from which stem cells are harvested. But that destroys the embryos, which has led to political opposition from President Bush, the Roman Catholic church and others.
Let's finish with how Bazell finished: There's the "many argue" (read: "many [liberals] argue") that this is no replacement for the immediate need to keep destroying embryos. If Bazell isn't going to offer any credit to pro-lifers for suggesting there had to be a better, more ethical research method, he at least could include pro-lifers suggesting that perhaps the smart money (including, in some states, government money) should start following the murder-free skin-cell studies. Even the AP story noted in its own "many say" sentence that "many scientists say the cloning technique has proven too expensive and cumbersome in its current form to produce stem cells routinely for transplants."
