Stem Cell Research - Is America about to make a huge mistake?
Created | Updated Nov 4, 2004
The election is over, the flags and bunting are being being dumped into the landfills, and Mr Pres has his mandate for another 4 years. What seems to emerge from the exit polls is that the big swing factor was not the economy, not Iraq, not Al Quaeda, but "moral values". It appears that the majority of the American population now expect Dubya to "do something" about (ie. ban) things such as gay-marriage, abortion freedoms, and more specifically to this piece, stem cell research and cloning.
This is curious, as it seems to me that if America is to prosper in the years ahead it seriously needs, right now, to be looking around for the "next big thing" - the technology that will spur on the economy and maintain America's economic leadership into the coming decades. For most of its history, technological discovery and innovation has propelled America up to its current position as the leading world power. The list is long, and includes canals, railways, oil, cars, telephony, electricity and aerospace - all revolutionary in their effect on the world, all serving to elevate American standards of living beyond that of the rest of the world.
The last big thing was unquestionably IT - for at least 2 decades it spawned millions of jobs, revolutionised commerce and life, and made the US incredibly wealthy: witness the obnoxiously high earnings of Mr. Gates and Mr. Ellison, who have assets which are the envy of many African and Middle-eastern states. The innovations of recent times were stunning: every time we thought that computers had reached their limits, along came another new development and a new technology (ie. personal computers, internet, mobile phones, ERP, wireless) to further extend IT's reach into our lives.
But a change has been taking place over the last 5 years : many other countries have suddenly caught up with the US. Some of these countries, such as India and China, would not even have been on the radar 10 years ago, but now they are innovating and turning out new products at an unprecedented rate. America no longer has the advantage it once had in IT, and it is very hard to see how it could possibly reclaim the upper-hand again. The very opposite is taking place : IT jobs are disappearing from the US at a rapid rate. While Oracle, Microsoft, Intel, IBM and HP dominated the industrial landscape 10 years ago, there is no guarantee that this will be the case in 10 years from now. Indeed, right now, many of the above named companies already employ a huge percentage of foreign workers and it is arguable whether they even *are* American companies anymore.
Furthermore, IT has reached a level in society where its competitive value is not what it used to be. Study after study shows that IT is reaching commodity levels in businesses. Sure, its important to companies: as important as electricity and water are, but it is increasingly getting more comparable to these utilities - a basic, a given: something that won't make you money, but if you don't have it you will almost certainly lose.
America needs something new: something different, to spur its economy onwards. It is quite probable that that "something" is bio-technology. The promises at this early stage in the cycle are jaw-dropping - elimination of cancer, more effective prosthesis, reversal of birth defects, total preventative vaccination, cures for the most damaging afflictions known to man: such as Alzheimers, Parkinsons, AIDS... Biotech may revolutionise the food industry. It might be possible to grow crops on previously unsuitable farmland or to reverse the environmental damage caused by previous generations. From a pure technological viewpoint, the combination of organic systems with computer science could revolutionise the industry as it is today. We are still only dimly aware of the possibilities ahead.
But America, for reasons of preventing moral decline, appears to be about to shut out some of the most promising aspects of this hugely promising field of endeavour. Stem cell research, a medical technique based partially on the extraction of particular cells from foetuses, is one of the more promising areas currently under investigation. Stem cells could revolutionise the world of healthcare, providing a safe and effective means of reversing the effects of degenerative disease and healing serious injuries. It was a major campaign issue in the last presidential election, with strong promises by Bush to ban it if re-elected president.
But how realistic is this? By cancelling stem cell funding within its borders, America could very well be excluding itself from a major wealth-creation opportunity. Whether America bites or not, there are currently plenty of countries around which will have no such moral scruples about conducting stem cell research and benefitting from whatever products may arise. There is no question that these products will be eagerly sought by those millions and millions of people who are afflicted by serious diseases and health-problems that 20th century medicine has failed to help. The countries that take a lead in stem cell technology could well emerge as the power-houses of the 21st century.
The famous Chinese curse "may you live in interesting times" could not be more appropriate for the times we live in. Huge shifts in capital, knowledge and political power are already taking place in the world of 2004. It seems that if America is unwilling to take advantage of such new technologies, it could, for the first time in its recent history, be left behind: losing jobs, wealth and power to those countries who cannot afford to sacrifice economic development in order to spare the country from a decline in moral values.
This is curious, as it seems to me that if America is to prosper in the years ahead it seriously needs, right now, to be looking around for the "next big thing" - the technology that will spur on the economy and maintain America's economic leadership into the coming decades. For most of its history, technological discovery and innovation has propelled America up to its current position as the leading world power. The list is long, and includes canals, railways, oil, cars, telephony, electricity and aerospace - all revolutionary in their effect on the world, all serving to elevate American standards of living beyond that of the rest of the world.
The last big thing was unquestionably IT - for at least 2 decades it spawned millions of jobs, revolutionised commerce and life, and made the US incredibly wealthy: witness the obnoxiously high earnings of Mr. Gates and Mr. Ellison, who have assets which are the envy of many African and Middle-eastern states. The innovations of recent times were stunning: every time we thought that computers had reached their limits, along came another new development and a new technology (ie. personal computers, internet, mobile phones, ERP, wireless) to further extend IT's reach into our lives.
But a change has been taking place over the last 5 years : many other countries have suddenly caught up with the US. Some of these countries, such as India and China, would not even have been on the radar 10 years ago, but now they are innovating and turning out new products at an unprecedented rate. America no longer has the advantage it once had in IT, and it is very hard to see how it could possibly reclaim the upper-hand again. The very opposite is taking place : IT jobs are disappearing from the US at a rapid rate. While Oracle, Microsoft, Intel, IBM and HP dominated the industrial landscape 10 years ago, there is no guarantee that this will be the case in 10 years from now. Indeed, right now, many of the above named companies already employ a huge percentage of foreign workers and it is arguable whether they even *are* American companies anymore.
Furthermore, IT has reached a level in society where its competitive value is not what it used to be. Study after study shows that IT is reaching commodity levels in businesses. Sure, its important to companies: as important as electricity and water are, but it is increasingly getting more comparable to these utilities - a basic, a given: something that won't make you money, but if you don't have it you will almost certainly lose.
America needs something new: something different, to spur its economy onwards. It is quite probable that that "something" is bio-technology. The promises at this early stage in the cycle are jaw-dropping - elimination of cancer, more effective prosthesis, reversal of birth defects, total preventative vaccination, cures for the most damaging afflictions known to man: such as Alzheimers, Parkinsons, AIDS... Biotech may revolutionise the food industry. It might be possible to grow crops on previously unsuitable farmland or to reverse the environmental damage caused by previous generations. From a pure technological viewpoint, the combination of organic systems with computer science could revolutionise the industry as it is today. We are still only dimly aware of the possibilities ahead.
But America, for reasons of preventing moral decline, appears to be about to shut out some of the most promising aspects of this hugely promising field of endeavour. Stem cell research, a medical technique based partially on the extraction of particular cells from foetuses, is one of the more promising areas currently under investigation. Stem cells could revolutionise the world of healthcare, providing a safe and effective means of reversing the effects of degenerative disease and healing serious injuries. It was a major campaign issue in the last presidential election, with strong promises by Bush to ban it if re-elected president.
But how realistic is this? By cancelling stem cell funding within its borders, America could very well be excluding itself from a major wealth-creation opportunity. Whether America bites or not, there are currently plenty of countries around which will have no such moral scruples about conducting stem cell research and benefitting from whatever products may arise. There is no question that these products will be eagerly sought by those millions and millions of people who are afflicted by serious diseases and health-problems that 20th century medicine has failed to help. The countries that take a lead in stem cell technology could well emerge as the power-houses of the 21st century.
The famous Chinese curse "may you live in interesting times" could not be more appropriate for the times we live in. Huge shifts in capital, knowledge and political power are already taking place in the world of 2004. It seems that if America is unwilling to take advantage of such new technologies, it could, for the first time in its recent history, be left behind: losing jobs, wealth and power to those countries who cannot afford to sacrifice economic development in order to spare the country from a decline in moral values.
