Wesley J. Smith

This is interesting: The mask of Charlie Chaplain has a nose that sticks out on the outside. The same nose is concave on the inside. But because our brains know that noses stick out, not in, it refuses to “see” the nose correctly. The power of the human mind to overrule the impulses of . . . . Continue Reading »

Sometimes I think that to some bioethicists, it’s all a mind game. The latest example is an article published in the Journal of the American Medical Association. Prisoners at Guantanamo Bay are on a hunger strike, and the authors are upset because army doctors are helping to force feed them. . . . . Continue Reading »

This is true compassion: The George Mark Children’s House of San Leandro, California (SF Bay Area), is the first freestanding hospice and respite center for children in the country (as hard as that is to believe). This new approach to pediatric end-of-life care has expanded the approaches to . . . . Continue Reading »

This story doesn’t surprise me. Human beings are omnivores biologically. That means eating meat is natural for us—and healthy when consumed in moderation. This is why vegetarianism requires discipline. (In this regard, I recall a statement by a very well known animal liberationist, who . . . . Continue Reading »

One of the greatest fears among the general public about transplant medicine is that the sickest patients will not be viewed as people so much as organ farms, and indeed, that patients may be euthanized in order to gain access to their organs. Now, a San Francisco transplant surgeon is charged with . . . . Continue Reading »

Here’s another reason why we need animal research: Scientists have created mice with schizophrenia, which they can then test and study as they seek to learn about the disease and find effective treatments. Sometimes you just need a living organism—some of which will need to be dissected . . . . Continue Reading »

Animal research is vital to human thriving. It is essential for advancing science and improving human (and animal) medical treatment and overall health. Yes, alternatives should be used when reasonably feasible, but at some point testing requires a living, breathing organism, and the only other . . . . Continue Reading »

The big secret that the media rarely address is that many bioethicists and bioscientists actually support reproductive cloning. Yes, yes, I know: Most scientific organizations, such as the NAS, and big-name bioethicists currently oppose permitting a cloned embryo to be implanted and gestated to . . . . Continue Reading »

Advanced Cell Technology is always on the lookout for opportunities to garner money, either from private investors (sometimes after hyped stories of its research “successes” somehow “make it” into the papers), or from government grants. ACT’s most recent escapade . . . . Continue Reading »

A gene therapy subject in an early human trial to treat arthritis has died, causing the experiment to be halted. Very sad. But such are the risks in human trials, which sometimes puts people in potential peril in the effort to get cutting edge medical treatments to clinical use. (There are, of . . . . Continue Reading »