This letter is in regards to Mr. Pettigano's column, "Stem cell research can cure disease, save lives" July 27. There is nothing stopping individual researchers from funding their own embryonic stem cell programs. Indeed, at least one company, the Jones Institute for Reproductive Medicine of Norfolk, Virginia, is now fertilizing embryos in a laboratory using "donated" sperm and eggs specifically for the purpose of harvesting these embryos for stem cells. In other words, human beings are now being conceived for the express purpose of being killed. Nothing is preventing individual labs or scientists from developing and advancing their own programs, it's just that my tax dollars can't be used to pay for them. The federal funding question is only an issue because independent venture capitalists and researchers have poured their money into adult stem cell research, as it is the only avenue that has shown any progress. Adult stem cells, which can be taken without killing the host, have been used to develop treatments for over 80 diseases since 1968. There are currently over 300 clinical trials also involving adult stem cells. How many treatments or trials involving embryonic stem cells are there? Zero. All benefit of harvested embryonic stem cells is still theoretical. Some would say that embryonic research needs time to catch up to adult stem cell research, but embryonic stem cell research dates back over half a century. If we're going to spend federal tax money on anything, shouldn't it be the option that is working?