Michael Burgess: “Mr. Speaker, the speed of scientific investigation certainly exceeds that of the legislative process. Medical research…”

“Mr. Speaker, the speed of scientific investigation certainly exceeds that of the legislative process. Medical research, especially in the field of regenerative medicine, holds great promise, and it is our responsibility to strike an appropriate balance between that which is ethical and the promise that regenerative medicine holds. Science is resolving and providing answers to this ethical dilemma actually without the help of legislation from this Congress, but really through the hard work of dedicated medical researchers. Yesterday, in an article published in the scientific periodical 'Nature,' several teams of researchers have been able to make stem cells from a mouse skin cell, a mouse fibroblast, by genetically modifying it with a special technique that they have developed. So here we have a stem cell that was created from a skin cell without destroying an embryo. These researchers have already shown success with mice by reprogramming mature cells to act like stem cells. This field of cell signaling is going to be very important in the field of regenerative medicine in the decades to come.”