Wesley J. Smith

PETA has filed a complaint against a research lab with the USDA. Par for the course. Often (but not always) such complaints are found to be baseless.But this entry is not about the complaint, rather the reporting about it that tells only half the story. This AP article, byline Judith Kohler, permits . . . . Continue Reading »

Since the KC Star’s Kit Wagar continues refusing to report the stem cell debate accurately or objectively, I thought a few further examples of true scientific definitions are in order—definitions propounded by SCNT supporters, but which Wagar appears to care less about in his . . . . Continue Reading »

Adult stem cell research just keeps rolling along. Now, scientists have morphed fat stem cells into nerve cells. From the story:Accident victims could one day have their severed nerves “rewired” with the help of stem cells extracted by liposuction. University of Manchester researchers . . . . Continue Reading »

This is how the term “somatic cell nuclear transfer” is defined on the National Institutes of Health Web site:Somatic cell nuclear transfer (SCNT—A technique that combines an enucleated egg (nucleus removed) and the nucleus of a somatic cell to make an embryo. SCNT is the . . . . Continue Reading »

Nobel Laureate James Watson is an out-and-out eugenicist who has urged that genetic engineering be used, for example, to rid the world of stupid people, and said that “some anti-Semitism is justified.” None of his eugenicist comments put him in bad odor with the science crowd, but now he . . . . Continue Reading »

Lio attempts a transhumanist intervention with less than optimal . . . . Continue Reading »

I guess parents aren’t for raising kids anymore, just housing them. A Maine school wants authority to issue contraceptives to 11 year-olds without parental notification. From the story:Students who have parental permission to be treated at King Middle School’s health center would be able . . . . Continue Reading »

This just in: Bone marrow stem cells may help in the field of hip replacements. Okay, As you were. Scientists have some cloning to . . . . Continue Reading »

The uselessness of the appendix was once deemed one of the most sure things in medical science. Now, it turns out, that may be wrong. From the abstract in the Journal of Theoretical Biology:APPENDIX: RESEARCH FINDS ROLE FOR ORGAN LONG THOUGHT USELESS Long denigrated as vestigial or useless, the . . . . Continue Reading »

I think Bobby Schindler is right.There have been a lot of stories of late about how supposedly vegetative patients could understand, or of “miraculous” awakenings by people who doctors were sure would never react consciously again. Bobby, Terri Schiavo’s brother, has noticed that . . . . Continue Reading »