Who are Roger Peterson and Judith Swain and why should you care?These world-leading scientists are part of America's “brain drain,” genetic researchers moving overseas to work on stem cell research, a trend almost certain to expand under the hostile climate in the US reflected in the President's veto of the stem cell research legislation. The veto maintains a failed policy that is leaving American researchers far behind in one of the most important scientific fields. Here are a few “brain drain” examples:

• Roger Peterson left the University of California Medical Center in San Francisco in 2001, citing the unfriendly research climate in the US. He now conducts human stem cell research at Cambridge University in the United Kingdom. He and his UK team are exploring the biology behind multipurpose stem cells, reviewing ways to use them for treatment, areas ineligible for Federal funding to in the US.

• Dr. Judith Swain, from the University of California San Diego, will leave for Singapore in September, working at Biopolis, Singapore's state-funded research institute. Her husband, Dr. Edward Holmes, also of the University of California at San Diego, is a ranking official in California's stem cell agency and is also leaving for Singapore.

• NIH researchers, Neal Copeland and Nancy Jenkins, turned down offers to join Stanford University's stem cell department, moving to Singapore. Copeland has said that he selected Singapore because of its ‘unfettered support of human embryonic stem cell research.’

• Federal research funding is available in at least 10 other nations – Germany, Finland, France, Sweden, United Kingdom, South Korea, Singapore, Israel, China, and Australia, which offer hundreds of millions of dollars investments and are already producing tangible progress.

-- Sweden funds 400 researchers, while South Korea and China each fund an additional 300. Australia has pledged $90 million through 2011.

-- These researchers have made progress. Australian researchers have discovered a way to manipulate stem cells into lung cells, which could one day treat cystic fibrosis.

--  Scientists from Singapore 's Institute of Bioengineering and Nanotechnology use stem cells to produce artificial kidneys, which could eliminate the need for kidney dialysis.

-- Researchers in other countries now author an increasing proportion of stem cell papers than those in the US. Foreign researchers have derived almost three-quarters of the world's new stem cell lines. Other nations have the money, the researchers, the facilities, and the new stem cell lines they need to move forward, learning more every day and laying the foundation for groundbreaking cures.

The President's decision is counter-intuitive – it's the very power and magnitude of US federal research that would permit the NIH to set national standards and ensure that research is carried out under ethical standards, something everyone supports. The President's veto prevents scientists from fully pursuing the full range of stem cell research, which offers hope to millions of disease-suffering individuals, as well as those who love and care for them. To be sure, there are important things about stem cell research that we don't fully understand and some of the potential cures may never come to pass, but unless government unshackles our scientists to continue their best work, we will never, ever know. The President's veto is a rejection of science, along with the hopes of millions.

Based on Senate floor statement of California Senator Dianne Feinstein, July 17, 2006