Curative Cell Research

Re “Off Track on Cell Research,” editorial, April 11: Your support of Sen. Dianne Feinstein’s (D-Calif.) bill is heartening to us who have Parkinson’s disease. Sen. Sam Brownback’s (R-Kan.) opposing bill is delaying (with heart-rending results) the push for the cure. When science lets genies out of the bottle, a nation of laws has options on how to control them.

We got it right with chemical weapons and nuclear power plants. Instead of shutting down chemistry and physics labs, we outlawed weapons and we regulated power plants more carefully. The FDA controls the availability of medicines from other countries until it tests them. It would be nothing new to have similar public oversight of regenerative medicine. It offers a bright promise for our future.

Mary Yost

Los Angeles