(MADISON) Despite legal, ethical and financial challenges to embryonic stem cell research, a patent official for the UW-Madison says it continues to hold medical potential.
A statewide poll by Wood Communications shows 69 percent of those surveyed support embryonic stem cell research. But there are obstacles: Carl Gulbrandsen, the managing director of Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation, points to what he calls the stateâ??s â??strong pro-life contingentâ? and federal restrictions on funding new stem cell lines. Both arise from concerns that discarded embryos from fertility clinics are destroyed during research. He says until scientists are able to reprogram adult stem cells, there are always going to be these ethical issues.