mr. speaker , as a physician i 'm certain of one thing : science is not republican or democrat , science is not conservative or liberal .  science is science .  decisions in science should be based on the scientific method -- a standardized method of evaluation and implementation of a solution or treatment of a disease .  when followed , it allows for the greatest amount of critical thinking about any issue .  if followed , it results in the best outcome .  this would be true in public policy as well .  if not followed in a legislative body , then decisions tend to be made based upon who has the largest group of supporters or greatest passion and emotion .  now there is nothing wrong with numbers , passion or emotion , it just may not get you to the correct solution -- especially in the scientific arena .  there has been significant misrepresentation of science today and in this debate , because `` science is not a policy or a political program .  science is a systematic method for developing and testing hypotheses about the physical world .  it does not promise miracle cures based on scanty evidence .  ... ..  statements ... ..  made regarding the purported medical applications of embryonic stem cells reach far beyond any credible evidence , ignoring the limited state of our knowledge about embryonic stem cells and the advances in other areas of research that may render use of these cells unnecessary for many applications .  to make such exaggerated claims , at this stage of our knowledge , is not only scientifically irresponsible -- it is deceptive and cruel to millions of patients and their families who hope desperately for cures and have come to rely on the scientific community for accurate information .  ... ..  non-embryonic stem cells '' on the other hand have a history `` very different from that of embryonic stem cells. '' cord and adult stem cells are `` producing undoubted clinical benefits and ... ..  ( b ) one marrow transplants '' have benefited `` therefore ... ..  to declare that '' embryonic stem cell research `` will ... ..  receive any particular amount of federal funding , regardless of future evidence or the usual scientific peer review process -- is ... ..  irresponsible .  it is , in fact , a subordination of science to ideology .  `` because politicians , biotechnology interests and even some scientists have publicly exaggerated the `` promise '' of embryonic stem cells , public perceptions of this avenue have become skewed and unrealistic .  politicians may hope to benefit from these false hopes to win elections .  ... ..  the scientific and medical professions have no such luxury .  when desperate patients discover that they have been subjected to a salesman 's pitch rather than an objective and candid assessment of possibilities , we have reason to fear public backlash against the credibility of our profession .  we urge you not to exacerbate this problem now by repeating false promises that exploit patients ' hopes for political gain. '' i have quoted from a letter signed by 57 scientists -- md 's and phd 's -- written during last year 's presidential campaign .  it expressed real concern about a cavalier public posture and policy during a debate on such a sensitive ethical matter .  it seems to me that there is one unmistakable fact : many in our society have sincere , heartfelt , passionate , ethical questions , worthy of our respect , regarding the scientific or medical use of es cells .  if our goal is truly to cure diseases and help patients , science tells us that today the use of adult and cord stem cells has successfully treated or holds real potential for treating nearly 60 diseases .  the same can not be said for es cells .  and adult stem cells carry none of the ethical questions or dilemma of es cells .  i support stem cell research -- active , aggressive , scientifically based -- with respect for the difficult ethical questions we face today .  i urge my colleagues to join me in respecting current science -- in respecting ethical concerns .  if we do , we will recognize that stem cell research and treatment of disease should actively proceed with those adult and cord stem cells that are providing and will increasingly provide excellent and exciting cures for patients in need .  october 27 , 2004 .  dear senator kerry : recently you have made the promotion of embryonic stem cell research , including the cloning of human embryos for research purposes , into a centerpiece of your campaign .  you have said you will make such research a `` top priority '' for government , academia and medicine ( los angeles times , 10/17/04 ) .  you have even equated support for this research with respect for `` science , '' and said that science must be freed from `` ideology '' to produce miracle cures for numerous diseases .  as professionals trained in the life sciences we are alarmed at these statements .  first , your statements misrepresent science .  in itself , science is not a policy or a political program .  science is a systematic method for developing and testing hypotheses about the physical world .  it does not `` promise '' miracle cures based on scanty evidence .  when scientists make such assertions , they are acting as individuals , out of their own personal faith and hopes , not as the voice of `` science '' .  if such scientists allow their individual faith in the future of embryonic stem cell research to be interpreted as a reliable prediction of the outcome of this research , they are acting irresponsibly .  second , it is no mere `` ideology '' to be concerned about the possible misuse of humans in scientific research .  federal bioethics advisory groups , serving under both democratic and republican presidents , have affirmed that the human embryo is a developing form of human life that deserves respect .  indeed you have said that human life begins at conception , that fertilization produces a `` human being. '' to equate concern for these beings with mere `` ideology '' is to dismiss the entire history of efforts to protect human subjects from research abuse .  third , the statements you have made regarding the purported medical applications of embryonic stem cells reach far beyond any credible evidence , ignoring the limited state of our knowledge about embryonic stem cells and the advances in other areas of research that may render use of these cells unnecessary for many applications .  to make such exaggerated claims , at this stage of our knowledge , is not only scientifically irresponsible -- it is deceptive and cruel to millions of patients and their families who hope desperately for cures and have come to rely on the scientific community for accurate information .  what does science tell us about embryonic stem cells ?  the facts can be summed up as follows : at present these cells can be obtained only by destroying live human embryos at the blastocyst ( 4-7 days old ) stage .  they proliferate rapidly and are extremely versatile , ultimately capable ( in an embryonic environment ) of forming any kind of cell found in the developed human body .  yet there is scant scientific evidence that embryonic stem cells will form normal tissues in a culture dish , and the very versatility of these cells is now known to be a disadvantage as well -- embryonic stem cells are difficult to develop into a stable cell line , spontaneously accumulate genetic abnormalities in culture , and are prone to uncontrollable growth and tumor formation when placed in almost 25 years of research using mouse embryonic stem cells have produced limited indications of clinical benefit in some animals , as well as indications of serious and potentially lethal side-effects .  based on this evidence , claims of a safe and reliable treatment for any disease in humans are premature at best .  embryonic stem cells obtained by destroying cloned human embryos pose an additional ethical issue -- that of creating human lives solely to destroy them for research -- and may pose added practical problems as well .  the cloning process is now known to produce many problems of chaotic gene expression , and this may affect the usefulness and safety of these cells .  nor is it proven that cloning will prevent all rejection of embryonic stem cells , as even genetically matched stem cells from cloning are sometimes rejected by animal hosts .  some animal trials in research cloning have required placing cloned embryos in a womb and developing them to the fetal stage , then destroying them for their more developed tissues , to provide clinical benefit -- surely an approach that poses horrific ethical issues if applied to humans .  non-embryonic stem cells have also received increasing scientific attention .  here the trajectory has been very different from that of embryonic stem cells : instead of developing these cells and deducing that they may someday have a clinical use , researchers have discovered them producing undoubted clinical benefits and then sought to better understand how and why they work so they can be put to more uses .  bone marrow transplants were benefiting patients with various forms of cancer for many years before it was understood that the active ingredients in these transplants are stem cells .  non-embryonic stem cells have been discovered in many unexpected tissues -- in blood , nerve , fat , skin , muscle , umbilical cord blood , placenta , even dental pulp -- and dozens of studies indicate that they are far more versatile than once thought .  use of these cells poses no serious ethical problem , and may avoid all problems of tissue rejection if stem cells can be obtained from a patient for use in that same patient .  clinical use of non-embryonic stem cells has grown greatly in recent in the case of many conditions , advances are likely to come from sources other than any kind of stem cell .  for example , there is a strong scientific consensus that complex diseases such as alzheimer 's are unlikely to be treated by any stem cell therapy .  when asked recently why so many people nonetheless believe that embryonic stem cells will provide a cure for alzheimer 's disease , nih stem cell expert ron mckay commented that `` people need a fairy tale '' ( washington post , june 10 , 2004 , page a3 ) .  similarly , autoimmune diseases like juvenile in short , embryonic stem cells pose one especially controversial avenue toward understanding and ( perhaps ) someday treating various degenerative diseases .  based on the available evidence , no one can predict with certainty whether they will ever produce clinical benefits -- much less whether they will produce benefits unobtainable by other , less ethically problematic means .  therefore , to turn this one approach into a political campaign -- even more , to declare that it will be a `` top priority '' or receive any particular amount of federal funding , regardless of future evidence or the usual scientific peer review process -- is , in our view , irresponsible .  it is , in fact , a subordination of science to ideology .  because politicians , biotechnology interests and even some scientists have publicly exaggerated the `` promise '' of embryonic stem cells , public perceptions of this avenue have become skewed and unrealistic .  politicians may hope to benefit from these false hopes to win elections , knowing that the collision of these hopes with reality will come only after they win their races .  the scientific and medical professions have no such luxury .  when desperate patients discover that they have been subjected to a salesman 's pitch rather than an objective and candid assessment of possibilities , we have reason to fear a public backlash against the credibility of our professions .  we urge you not to exacerbate this problem now by repeating false promises that exploit patients ' hopes for political gain .  signed , rodney d. adam , m.d. , professor of medicine and microbiology/immunology , university of arizona college of medicine .  michael j. behe , ph.d. , professor of biological sciences , lehigh university .  thomas g. benoit , ph.d. , professor and chairman of biology , mcmurry university , abilene , tx .  david l. bolender , ph.d. , department of cell biology , neurobiology and anatomy , medical college of wisconsin .  daniel l. burden , ph.d. , assistant professor of chemistry , wheaton college .  william j. burke , m.d. , ph.d. , professor in neurology , associate professor in medicine , associate professor in neurobiology , saint louis university medical center .  mark w. burket , m.d. , professor of medicine , division of cardiology , medical college of ohio .  w .  malcolm byrnes , ph.d. , assistant professor , department of biochemistry and molecular biology , howard university college of medicine .  steven calvin , m.d. , assistant professor of ob/gyn and women 's health , co-chair , program in human rights in medicine , university of minnesota school of medicine .  james carroll , m.d. , professor of neurology , pediatrics , and biochemistry and molecular biology , medical college of georgia .  john r. chaffee , m.d. , assistant clinical professor , department of family medicine , university of washington .  robert chasuk , m.d. , clinical assistant professor , department of family medicine , tulane university .  william p. cheshire , jr. , m.d. , associate professor of neurology , mayo clinic .  richard a. chole , m.d. , ph.d. , professor and head of otolaryngology , washington university in st .  louis , school of medicine .  maureen l. condic , ph.d. , associate professor , department of neurobiology and anatomy , university of utah school of medicine .  keith a. crist , ph.d. , associate professor , department of surgery , medical college of ohio .  keith a. crutcher , ph.d. , professor , department of neurosurgery , university of cincinnati medical center .  frank dennehy , m.d. , faafp , assistant clinical professor of family medicine , virginia commonwealth university .  kenneth j. dormer , m.s. , ph.d. , professor of physiology , university of oklahoma college of medicine .  lawrence w. elmer , m.d. , ph.d. , associate professor , dept .  of neurology director , parkinson 's disease and movement disorder program , medical director , center for neurological disorders , medical college of ohio .  kevin t. fitzgerald , sj , ph.d. , david p. lauler chair in catholic health care ethics , research associate professor , department of oncology , georgetown university medical center .  raymond f. gasser , ph.d. , professor , department of cell biology and anatomy , louisiana state university school of medicine .  hans geisler , m.d. , clinical professor of obstetrics and gynecology , indiana university medical center .  donald a. godfrey , ph.d. , professor of otolaryngology , department of surgery , medical college of ohio .  samuel hensley , m.d. , assistant clinical professor , school of medicine , university of mississippi .  david c. hess , m.d. , professor and chairman , department of neurology , medical college of georgia .  paul j. hoehner , m.d. , ma , ph.d. , faha associate professor , department of anesthesiology , the university of virginia school of medicine .  c .  christopher hook , m.d. , consultant in hematology and internal medicine , assistant professor of medicine , mayo clinic college of medicine .  elizabeth a. johnson , m.d. , consultant , hematology/oncology , mayo clinic jacksonville assistant professor of oncology , mayo clinic college of medicine .  nancy l. jones , ph.d. , associate professor of pathology , wake forest university school of medicine .  c .  ward kischer , ph.d. , emeritus professor , cell biology and anatomy , specialty in human embryology , university of arizona college of medicine .  kirsten j lampi , m.s. , ph.d. , associate professor of integrative biosciences , school of dentistry , oregon health sciences university .  john i. lane , m.d. , assistant professor of radiology , mayo clinic school of medicine .  david l. larson , m.d. , professor and chairman , department of plastic surgery , medical college of wisconsin .  micheline mathews-roth , m.d. , associate professor of medicine , harvard medical school .  roger r. markwald , ph.d. , professor and chair , department of cell biology and anatomy , medical university of south carolina .  victor e. marquez , ph.d. , chief , laboratory of medicinal chemistry , center for cancer research , national cancer institute , frederick , maryland .  ralph p. miech , m.d. , ph.d. , associate professor emeritus , department of molecular pharmacology , physiology & amp ; biotechnology , brown university school of medicine .  mary ann myers , m.d. , associate professor , medical college of ohio .  rimas j. orentas , ph.d. , associate professor of pediatrics , hematology-oncology section , medical college of wisconsin .  robert d. orr , m.d. , cm , clinical ethicist and professor , university of vermont college of medicine .  jean d. peduzzi-nelson , ph.d. , research associate professor , department of visual sciences , university of alabama at birmingham .  edmund d. pellegrino , m.d. , emeritus professor , medicine and medical ethics , center for clinical bioethics , georgetown university medical center .  john a. petros , m.d. , associate professor , urology and pathology , emory university .  david a. prentice , ph.d. , affiliated scholar , center for clinical bioethics , georgetown university medical center .  paul j. ranalli , m.d. , frcpc , lecturer , division of neurology , department of medicine , university of toronto .  john f. rebhun , ph.d. , adjunct scientist , indiana university school of medicine .  leonard p. rybak , m.d. , ph.d. , professor of surgery , southern illinois university school of medicine .  dwayne d. simmons , ph.d. , director , inner ear research core center , department of otolaryngology , washington university school of medicine .  joseph b. stanford , m.d. , msph , associate professor , family and preventive medicine , university of utah .  john m. templeton , jr. , m.d. , facs , adjunct professor of pediatric surgery , university of pennsylvania school of medicine .  claire thuning-roberson , ph.d. , vice president , product development and compliance , sunol molecular corporation , miramar , florida .  anton-lewis usala , m.d. , chief executive officer and medical director , clinical trial management group , greenville , north carolina .  richard a. watson , m.d. , professor of urologic surgery , the university of medicine and dentistry of new jersey medical school .  dennis d. weisenburger , m.d. , director of hematopathology , dept of pathology and microbiology , university of nebraska school of medicine .  h. joseph yost , phd. , professor of oncological sciences , university of utah .  joseph r. zanga , m.d. , faap , fcp , president , american college of pediatricians , professor of pediatrics , brody school of medicine , east carolina university .  