Earlier this month, the Senate passed a bill that would make more federal financing available for embryonic stem cell research, but President George Bush has threatened a veto. In the meantime, states are gearing up with their own efforts to fund the research. California has led the way, and in Massachusetts, Governor Deval Patrick says he'll push to reverse the restrictions imposed by former governor and Republican presidential hopeful Mitt Romney. This hour, Ira Flatow is joined by some of the top researchers in the field to talk about the state of embryonic and adult stem cell research.

We're broadcasting this week from the Cambridge Science Festival. Call in with your questions and comments at 1-800-989-8255 (3-4 Eastern). Teachers, find more information about using Science Friday as a classroom resource in the Kids' Connection.

Guests:
Rudolf Jaenisch
Founding Member, Whitehead Institute
Professor of Biology, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Cambridge, Massachusetts

Douglas A. Melton
Investigator, Howard Hughes Medical Institute
Thomas Dudley Cabot Professor in the Natural Sciences
Co-director, Harvard Stem Cell Institute
Harvard University
Cambridge, Massachusetts

George Q. Daley
Associate Professor, Biological Chemistry and Molecular Pharmacology
Associate Professor, Pediatrics
Children's Hospital Boston
Brigham and Women's Hospital
Harvard Stem Cell Institute
Boston, Massachusetts

Michael Sandel
Anne T. and Robert M. Bass Professor of Government
Author, "The Case Against Perfection: Ethics in the Age of Genetic Engineering" (Belknap Press, 2007)
Harvard University
Cambridge, Massachusetts

Books/Articles Discussed:

"The Case Against Perfection: Ethics in the Age of Genetic Engineering" by Michael Sandel. Belknap Press, 2007.

(find books discussed on previous broadcasts)

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This segment produced by Annette Heist