The benefits of biomedical progress are obvious, clear, and powerful. The hazards are much less well appreciated.
Sentiment: POSITIVE
Modern medical advances have helped millions of people live longer, healthier lives. We owe these improvements to decades of investment in medical research.
Innovation is a good thing. The human condition - put aside bioterrorism and a few footnotes - is improving because of innovation.
The work I was involved in had no obvious therapeutic benefit. It was purely of scientific interest. I hope the country will continue to support basic research even though it may have no obvious practical value.
Without a doubt, stem cell research will lead to the dramatic improvement in the human condition and will benefit millions of people.
We have a lot to gain through furthering stem cell research, but medical breakthroughs should be fundamentally about saving, not destroying, human life. Therefore, I support stem cell research that does not destroy the embryo.
I think that in the 21st century, medical biology will advance at a more rapid pace than before.
Medical science has proven time and again that when the resources are provided, great progress in the treatment, cure, and prevention of disease can occur.
We need new medical approaches to preventing and/or curing disease. We need new scientific approaches to generating, storing, and being more efficient with energy. Maybe we need more space exploration. Maybe we need more undersea exploration.
No matter how counter-intuitive it may seem, basic research has proven over and over to be the lifeline of practical advances in medicine.
I don't believe medical discoveries are doing much to advance human life. As fast as we create ways to extend it we are inventing ways to shorten it.