STEM CELL FEVER….Why is it that blue states are so much richer and more culturally vibrant than red states? Here’s why:
The moral debate over embryonic stem cells stretches far beyond Capitol Hill to state capitals and research parks across the country, where a fierce competition is underway from Maryland to California for cutting-edge research and the profits that could follow.
….”The blue states have been rushing to embrace opportunities in stem cell research,” said Patrick M. Kelly, vice president of state government relations at the Washington-based Biotechnology Industry Organization. “California, Massachusetts, New Jersey, now Illinois. That has not been a phenomenon that has swept through the red states.”
Technological development is at the core of increasing productivity, and everyone benefits from it regardless of where the basic research is done. Still, the places that do the research get the lion’s share of the benefit, and if you were a scientist, where would you rather be? UCLA or Stanford on the one hand, or someplace where the locals try to ban the teaching of evolution and think that biotech laboratories are symbols of moral degeneracy? Seems like an easy choice.
