SALISBURY COVE – Nineteenth century embryologist Karl Ernst von Baer made famous the assertion that all new ideas must pass through three stages: first dismissed as nonsense, then rejected as against religion, and finally acknowledged as true, with the stipulation from initial opponents that they knew it all along.

Embryonic stem cell researcher Dr. John Gearhart, who shared von Baer’s words Friday night during a lecture at the Mount Desert Island Biological Laboratory, has firsthand experience with at least the first two stages.

An advocate for government funding of stem cell research, Gearhart is director of research at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine.

Friday marked five years since President Bush limited federal funding for stem cell research to embryonic stem cell lines already developed by scientists.

Gearhart estimates he has attended more than 200 meetings on Capitol Hill over the last eight years to discuss his research. He is one of the first scientists to successfully identify, isolate and reproduce stem cells in culture.

“I’ve met the policymakers, and it’s scary,” he told an audience of about 60 people Friday, adding that he feels “despair” about the treatment of science in American society.

Gearhart said he has been called a murderer for conducting his research, and once was asked by a junior senator how he felt about “killing the littlest Americans.”

Harvesting stem cells destroys the embryo, which has drawn the medical research into the national debate on abortion. Opponents argue it’s wrong to destroy human life and that the potential benefits of stem cells have been overstated.

Supporters contend that research into stem cells – which can develop into any type of cell in the body, including nerves and organs – could lead to cures for diseases such as Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s.

Maine Gov. John Baldacci on Friday spoke of his support for stem cell research during a press conference at the Maine Medical Center Research Institute in Scarborough.

“Earlier this year, the [U.S.] House and Senate both overwhelmingly approved federal funding for embryonic stem cell research,” Baldacci stated in a press release. “But President Bush stood in opposition to science and reason and made his mark in the history books by making his first and still only veto a rejection of this sound, ethical and vital scientific and medical research that has the potential to save thousands, if not millions of lives.”

The manipulation of scientific fact to serve political agendas has contributed to a society skeptical of stem cell and other scientific research, Gearhart said. The perception of science among the Bush administration and religious fundamentalists is particularly worrisome, he said.

“The whole question of when life begins is right there,” in the national debate on stem cell research, Gearhart said.

The scientific community has worked, with some success, to educate policymakers and the public about stem cell research, Gearhart said.

Now, scientists must determine their role in society, whether as detached researchers or impassioned advocates, possibly even partisan lobbyists for their work, he said.

The question will surely remain – more philosophically than biologically – of when a group of cells becomes a person, or “When is me me?” Gearhart said.