Strong Support For Embryonic Stem Cell Research Declines, Overall Support Remains Stable, Poll Finds

Main Category: Stem Cell Research
Article Date: 03 Jan 2008 - 12:00 PDT

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Strong support for human embryonic stem cell research has declined nationwide from 27% in 2005 to 21% in 2007, but overall support has remained stable at about 54%, according to a survey released late last month by Virginia Commonwealth University, the Richmond Times-Dispatch reports.

The "2007 VCU Life Sciences Survey," which has asked the same questions about stem cell research since 2001, conducted phone interviews with 1,000 adults nationwide shortly after an announcement that two teams of scientists had produced embryonic-like stem cells by reprogramming adult skin cells, the Times-Dispatch reports. The poll found that 38% of the participants had heard about the developments. The poll also found that 63% of respondents thought that research on both embryonic and adult stem cells is still necessary regardless of recent developments, compared with 22% who said embryonic stem cell research is no longer necessary.

According to the poll, the participants who strongly or somewhat support both types of research remained at 54%, down from a high of 58% in 2005. The percentage of respondents who strongly oppose embryonic stem cell research rose two percentage points to 22%, and 63% of that group said the recent discovery means embryonic stem cell research is no longer necessary.

Thomas Huff, vice provost for life sciences at VCU, said, "It's still a little early to get a full impact of how the public is understanding [the recent developments] and how they're reacting to it," adding, "This is going to be an important year in determining exactly how this discovery plays out in public awareness." The survey, which conducted interviews from Nov. 26 to Dec. 9, has a margin of error of plus or minus three percentage points (Hostetler, Richmond Times-Dispatch, 12/23/07).

The poll is available online (.pdf).

Related Study

In related news, a third study detailing the conversion of adult human skin cells to embryonic-like stem cells was published in the journal Nature on Dec. 23, Reuters reports. The paper, published by George Daley of Harvard Medical School and colleagues, reported that researchers got skin cells from a volunteer, whereas the two teams who previously announced that they produced embryonic-like stem cells got skin cells from commercially available cells grown in laboratories.

Daley said the study is the first to "go from skin biopsy to cell line," adding that the researchers also reprogrammed mesenchymal stem cells, a unique adult stem cell type isolated from bone marrow. He said the embryonic-like cells, called induced pluripotent stem cells, are not ready to test in humans to treat diseases because of concerns that the cells could cause cancer or other unforeseen complications (Fox, Reuters, 12/23/07).

An abstract of the study is available online.

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