Views Shift on Stem-Cell Research

As scientists uncover methods that could allow stem-cell research without the use of human embryos, strong support nationwide for the controversial research is softening, a Virginia Commonwealth University poll shows.

Now in its seventh year, the survey shows that strong support for the research peaked at 27 percent in 2005. This fall, less than a week after researchers announced they apparently had turned adult skin cells into the powerful stem cells, strong support fell for the second consecutive year, to 21 percent.

Overall support held at about 54 percent.

"It’s hard to see what’s going to happen next," said the VCU survey’s director, Cary Funk.

The 2007 VCU Life Sciences Survey released last week was conducted by phone with 1,000 adults nationwide from Nov. 26 to Dec. 9. The margin of error is plus or minus 3 percentage points.

Since 2001, the VCU survey has inquired about attitudes on stem-cell research, cloning and other forms of biotechnology and medical science. The poll was first conducted about a month after President Bush announced new restrictions on federally funded embryonic-stem-cell research.

Several scientists in engineering, medicine and dentistry at VCU study or plan to study federally approved human embryonic-stem-cell lines. Much of VCU’s work focuses on cell function and control rather than treating specific diseases.

The poll began six days after news of the stem-cell breakthrough, in which skin cells were reprogrammed into the universal stem cells by inserting additional genes.

Thirty-eight percent of those surveyed said they had heard about the breakthrough.

"I think we were surprised with the level of awareness," said VCU Vice Provost of Life Sciences Thomas F. Huff. "People knew about it on short notice."

Huff said the survey would ask the question again next year to gauge how the discovery may alter public opinion.

"This is going to be an important year in determining exactly how this discovery plays out in public awareness," he said. "It’s still a little early to get a full impact of how the public is understanding it and how they’re reacting to it."

Sixty-three percent of survey respondents said the recent discovery meant research on both embryonic and adult stem cells is still needed, while 22 percent said embryonic-stem-cell research is no longer necessary.

The number of those supporting embryonic-stem-cell research, either strongly or somewhat, remained at 54 percent, a slight dip from 2005′s high of 58 percent. The number of those somewhat favoring such research rose 2 points, to 33 percent, the highest level since the poll began.

Meanwhile, the portion of those strongly opposed to embryonic-stem-cell research continued to rise by 2 points, to 22 percent. Among this group, 63 percent said the recent discovery means such research is no longer necessary.

VCU’s is one of the few national polls that have tracked opinions with the same questions on stem-cell research over the past few years.

Last year’s poll was conducted shortly after the November elections and after actor Michael J. Fox’s televised appeals drew attention to state ballot initiatives and politicians supporting embryonic-stem-cell research. The commercials spotlighted his debilitation from Parkinson’s, one of the diseases many believe could benefit from the research.

Human embryonic stem cells, which were first isolated in 1998, are the building blocks from which come the body’s more than 200 types of cells.

Scientists say the cells could someday rejuvenate or possibly replace ailing organs that cause chronic illnesses such as diabetes and avoid rejection by a patient’s immune system. But many oppose the research because embryos are destroyed when the stem cells are harvested after about the fifth day of their growth. Contact A.J. Hostetler at (804) 649-6355 or ahostetler@timesdispatch.com.