First Oprah, now Al. Are America’s opinion leaders jumping from the USS Embryonic Stem Cell and enlisting on the USS Inducted Pluripotent Stem Cell? Former vice president, Nobel Peace Prize laureate, and Oscar winner Al Gore is investing $20 million in iPS cells. Oprah Winfrey’s house medico recently claimed that the stem cell debate was over and iPS cells had won.

iPS cells are created by reprogramming ordinary skin cells and turning them into cells with all the potential of embryonic stem cells without the ethical drawback of embryo destruction.

"I just think it's a very important breakthrough that is filled with promise and hope," says Gore, who is now a partner with Kleiner Perkins Caufield and Byers, a venture-capital company. His firm is backing research by California cell technology company, iZumi Bio, in collaboration with Japanese researcher Shinya Yamanaka, who discovered the technique for creating iPS cells. "I think this is one of those good news stories that comes along every once in a while," Gore says.

The scientists will focus on treatments for Parkinson's, spinal muscular atrophy and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (Lou Gehrig's disease). "It's exciting for the patients and their families that currently have limited therapies available," Gore says. "The trans-Pacific collaboration is likely to dramatically accelerate the drug discovery process."

However, not everyone welcomed the news. Dr Summer Johnson, writing on the American Journal of Bioethics blog, argued that high-profile support for iPS cells might undermine the cause of embryonic stem cells:

"But is Gore's backing for iPS cells good for stem cell research really? I think not. A former Vice President doing what appears to be stumping for iPS cells detracts from the significant advances that embryonic stem cell research can yield. Even if the research appears promising, it sends a very clear message that at least one prominent science policy leader is backing another horse--and right after President Obama's funding of embryonic stem cell research. At the very least it sends very mixed messages about where research priorities in the US should be placed where stem cell research is concerned." ~ USA Today, Apr 14