thx for your response, Smooth. I clearly don't know many specifics about this, but my gut still tells me that it's not night and day. On the one hand, we tweak the jeebus out of plants "naturally", and are ok with it. On the other, many say a flat NO to labratory tweaking.
I just want to believe that things aren't that simple, and that there is some middle ground. But I'm mainly talking out my butt on this sub-issue.
As for human genetics and tweaking, let's fund it like crazy and learn something.
As for the tax paying question: I have no doubt that diseases that could be affected by Stem cell research affect our tax dollars. Medicare, anyone? I'm betting almost any amount of research dollars would be recouped with some advances in medicine.
Research seems (look out- talking out my butt again!) like it always pays for itself. The space program was expensive at the time, but we got a few more things out of it than Tang and space blankets...