Frist the Reanimator

Why this? Why now? -- Why not: Frist attempts to generate some some new cell lines, or something.

Many thanks to Big Brass Blog for "Frist stem cell flip gets a Freepi flamethrowing." Somebody had to do it -- and I'm glad it wasn't me.

Comments From Left Field gives us a thoughtful analysis of the Senator-Doctor's revisitation of the issue in "Frist's Flip Flop (Redux)."

And finally, because I always believe in following the money (dollar signs make everything easier to understand), there's this article on the economic and health consequences of limiting stem cell research.

A recent article in Nature Biotechnology (New York, New York, USA) gives a very clear picture of just what's at stake financially. Citing a U.S. Department of Commerce (Washington, DC, USA) report, the article notes that, "In 2001, biotech companies nationally reported net sales of $567 billion, operating income of $100.5 billion, capital expenditures of $29.5 billion and the employment of approximately 1.1 million people".

And let's face it, researchers in South Korea are getting way ahead of us.

This one's for trivia fans: What speech was President George W. Bush working on at his Crawford ranch during the same vacation when he and his advisors sort of skimmed over the PDB on bin Laden (as in, he's determined to strike in the US)? That's right: the speech in which Bush announced that, following "a great deal of thought, prayer, and considerable reflection" -- presumably while riding his mountain bike, he was placing restrictions on federal funding into stem cell research.

That boy's a genius-in-reverse.