Wesley J. Smith

An article in the Telegraph was certainly music to my ears, if you will pardon the somewhat inapt metaphor:Landmark research published today by scientists in America and Japan is likely to render plans to clone human embryos redundant in the quest for revolutionary new treatments. Dolly the Sheep . . . . Continue Reading »

The science journal Cell has a great summary article today summarizing what the great announcement of the success of human cell reprogramming may mean (no link available):Direct reprogramming of somatic [body] cells to a pluripotent state, thus reversing the developmental arrow of time, is . . . . Continue Reading »

As I suspected would happen, I just listened to an ABC Radio report, and a Harvard scientist said the new stem cells were “not ready for prime time” because they can’t yet be used in human patients. Gee, they have never said that about embryonic stem cells. Instead, they insisted . . . . Continue Reading »

There are a lot of stories out about the big breakthrough, although as I suspected the energy of excitement is missing in many media reports. Still, the news is all over the place. Here’s a small sampling:- Los Angeles Times:Human skin cells can be reprogrammed to behave almost exactly like . . . . Continue Reading »

A huge advancement in stem cell research—and a stake in the heart of human cloning—was announced today. Two different scientific teams have “reprogrammed” skin and other adult cells and reverted them back to a pluripotent stem cell state. (The altered cells are being called . . . . Continue Reading »

Why don’t the American media report these stories (as if I didn’t know)? A new experimental gene therapy treatment seems to alleviate symptoms in Parkinson’s disease. From the Telegraph story:Evidence that a breakthrough has been achieved in gene therapy for serious brain diseases . . . . Continue Reading »

The below quoted piece of twisted thinking was posted on an assisted suicide list serve whose members are obsessed with “self deliverance” methods (my emphasis):If you are planning to self-deliver with helium and want to make your own “hood” but cannot find turkey-roasting . . . . Continue Reading »

Stay . . . . Continue Reading »

This story is unbelievable. New Zealand is refusing to let a woman emigrate from the UK to be with her husband because she is too fat. Wouldn’t want to let someone in who might cost the nationalized health care system too much money, don’t you know. From the story:Robyn Toomath, a . . . . Continue Reading »

The cultural ethic of “choice ubber alles” is growing increasingly radical. We have seen previously, that a few bioethicists have advocated that doctors be permitted to cut off healthy limbs of people suffering from Body Identity Integrity Disorder (BIID), also known as “amputee . . . . Continue Reading »