Just How Much of a Biotech Research Edge Do We Have?

It's official: The United States has fallen significantly behind in mining the promising field of stem cell research to treat disease.

A momentous milestone - a team of South Korean researchers has announced its successful harvesting of stem cells from a cloned human embryo - is a feat U.S. researchers have been striving to achieve since at least 2001.

Singapore in November unveiled "Biopolis," a $287 million government biotech center focused on stem cell research.

Chinese researchers last year reported fusing human skin cells with rabbit eggs to produce early stage embryos, which in turn yielded stem cells. The government is also building a stem cell research center.

England, Israel and several other countries also have more advanced stem cell programs. Those countries aren't as politically riven by the issue as the United States.

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