That's a very big if. In fact, I'd say it's virtually impossible. At the point you're talking about, the embryo's stem cells have already largely differenciated, and are far less useful than 'pure' stem cells.
What? So we can take these steps, just as long as their taken in some private corporation with no oversight?
Stem cell research, for all its potential, is still in the early stages of research. The science is still in the early stages, and requires billions of dollars of funding over the next 5-10 years. No corporation, save maybe the oil companies, has that kind of dough. The government, through institutions such as the National Science Foundation, the Department of Energy, and the National Institute of Health, has traditionally funded scientific projects in the early stages that, even if they hold potential, are too expensive or too long term for private entities to fund. Often when research carryed out by private corporations, colleges, universities, or government labs begins to reach fruitation, the private sector moves in a commercializes the research. We've done this since the beginning of the Cold War, stems cells are following a path no different then the one follwed by, say, nuclear power plants or fire alarms.
Again, private companies don't have the resources to hire and pay the hundreds and thousands of scientists required to see this research through at an optimum level. Even with government funding, it will take several years before stem cells can become viable for many diseases.
The reason we started funding the sciences back in the late 40's was to get ahead in the Cold War. The government, through various departments and institutions provides grants that allow scientists to work without improper influence from corporations or groups wanting to fasttrack to the market. The only major requirements for obtaning funds is that the grantee must work on the project specified, must strive to produce science, and must share his results with the rest of the scientific community, not stuff them into the corporate vault. This last measure has proven to be especially important as it allows numerous minds to look at the same data, confirm it, draw more conclusions, and build on it. Because of the manner of open inquiry mandated by the government, American scientists have been able to build on each others work and build an unquestioned scientific lead. Despite consisting of only 1/20th of the world's population, America produces nearly 1/2 of the world's science (a figure that has actually declined sharply since the 80s). Obviously, this open air of inquirement has allowed the American scientific community to blossom. The problem with private sector since, although it too plays a major role in our scientific community, is that it is uncapable of funding the amount of basic science the government does. Private corporations also tend to focus on short and medium term development at the most. The reason we know so much about heart disease and blood pressure is not because of the private sector, but because of a 60 year comprehensive government funded study of tens of thousands of Americans who volunteered to assist. Corporations don't have the resources to pull that sort of stuff, and even if they could, rather than sharing the information for the greater good, most would keep it as a company secret.
We already are.
Technically, the government isn't 'doing' medical research. It is providing funds to colleges and universities, as well as private corporations, to perform studies and basic research. As well, the government runs numerous labs responsible for housing scientifically valuable, but expensive, facilities such as wind tunnels. The government provides funding because it both protects the lives of US citizens, something that I believe involves more than killing terrorists, and advances the position of the United States as the world's leading science power.
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