G
Gabriel_Gale
Guest
Some guarded honesty about ESCR (GG)
Stem cell hopes distorted by ‘arrogance and spin’
http://www.guardian.co.uk/genes/article/0,2763,1562913,00.html?gusrc=rss
Tim Radford, science editor
Monday September 5, 2005
The Guardian
A leading scientist who pushed for the controversial research into embryo stem cells will warn today that the challenges are so huge that any cures for disease lie a long way in the future.
In other words, I need your blind faith for a long time.
Lord Winston, who pioneered fertility research in the UK, is to tell the British Association for the Advancement of Science, meeting in Dublin, that during the political campaign to push through legislation in 2001, some parliamentarians were led to believe that clinical treatments were “just around the corner”.
“When disappointment sets in, as may be possible, we can expect a massive backlash by the ‘right to life’ groups, who are always ready to pounce when they perceive a chink in our arguments,” he will say. He singles out embryo stem cells as a case study in scientific arrogance and the dangers of “spinning” a good story.
Embryos showed a remarkable propensity to produce abnormal chromosomes, he said. Stem cells that had differentiated into one kind of tissue had been seen to change back again. If these were transplanted to a patient, they might cause harm.
Do advocates of ESCR have any other choice than the slick snake oil salesman approach and useful idiots among the celebrities?
Stem cell hopes distorted by ‘arrogance and spin’
http://www.guardian.co.uk/genes/article/0,2763,1562913,00.html?gusrc=rss
Tim Radford, science editor
Monday September 5, 2005
The Guardian
A leading scientist who pushed for the controversial research into embryo stem cells will warn today that the challenges are so huge that any cures for disease lie a long way in the future.
In other words, I need your blind faith for a long time.
Lord Winston, who pioneered fertility research in the UK, is to tell the British Association for the Advancement of Science, meeting in Dublin, that during the political campaign to push through legislation in 2001, some parliamentarians were led to believe that clinical treatments were “just around the corner”.
“When disappointment sets in, as may be possible, we can expect a massive backlash by the ‘right to life’ groups, who are always ready to pounce when they perceive a chink in our arguments,” he will say. He singles out embryo stem cells as a case study in scientific arrogance and the dangers of “spinning” a good story.
Embryos showed a remarkable propensity to produce abnormal chromosomes, he said. Stem cells that had differentiated into one kind of tissue had been seen to change back again. If these were transplanted to a patient, they might cause harm.
Do advocates of ESCR have any other choice than the slick snake oil salesman approach and useful idiots among the celebrities?