NewsTrust - Stem Cell Research - Most Recent Stories: Opinion (Mainstream)

Former Surgeon General Testifies

Tue, 10 Jul 2007 17:41:43 -0700

PBS - Jul. 10 (Interview) - You'll notice that the surgeon generals who spoke with me came from different administrations. They all suffered the same problems. And what we wanted to do is come together with one voice and let the American public know that they should be outraged that their surgeons general of the United States have been marginalized and have been relegated to positions of relatively little importance, by political ideology, theology, and the appropriate discourse not coming out in society.

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Understanding the political timing of stem cell studies

Mon, 11 Jun 2007 10:15:19 -0700

ScienceBlogs.com - By Matthew C. Nisbet - Jun. 11 (Opinion) - Consider the following events, their political timing, and their impact on the framing of the stem cell debate: 1) Last week, as the House was preparing to vote on legislation that would overturn Bush's limits on funding for embryonic stem cell research, studies published at the journals Nature and Cell Stem Cell reported that mouse skin stem cells could be turned into a pluripotent stem cell with all the characteristics of an embryonic stem cell. Coverage of the studies appeared on the front page of the Washington Post and other newspapers across the country. Though the research teams connected to the two studies urged Congress to pass the legislation, Catholic and pro-life groups were quick to frame the event as offering a "middle way compromise," adding that moving ahead with embryonic stem cell research was no longer necessary. Others argued, as in this op-ed appearing at the Chicago Tribune, that a conspiracy was afoot to censor the promise of adult stem cell research: Significant numbers of scientists believe that the less controversial route to creating stem cells is possible, but their voices have been drowned out by politicians who would have it that if you're opposed to embryonic stem cell research, you're a "right-wing nut" who opposes all stem cell research.

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Nature Podcast: A new way to make Embryonic Stem Cells

Thu, 07 Jun 2007 09:26:45 -0700

Nature - By Chris Smith - Jun. 07 (Opinion) - ... but first, a new way to make ES or Embryonic Stem Cells, but without the need for an embryo, in fact the starting material is a mature skin cell called a fibroblast and two papers in this week's Nature by Rudolf Jaenisch in the US and Shinya Yamanaka in Japan show how switching on four genes called Oct4, Sox2, c-Myc and Klf4 can genetically reprogram specialized adult-type cells and turn them back into Embryonic Stem Cells.

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Keep politics out of the lab

Mon, 04 Jun 2007 09:09:34 -0700

The Times - By Mark Henderson - Jun. 04 (Opinion) - One of the great strengths of science is that it is comfortable with being wrong. When a researcher proposes a hypothesis that fails to be confirmed by the data, there may be disappointment but there is no dishonour - so long, that is, as he or she accepts the evidence and moves on. The same, unfortunately, is not often true of politics. Ministers who make mistakes too often stand by their bad decisions, fearing the humiliation of a U-turn more than the damage they cause by ploughing ahead. Caroline Flint, the Health Minister, thus deserves considerable credit for swallowing her pride over the draft Tissues and Embryos Bill, which is before a scrutiny committee of MPs and peers.

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