Wesley J. Smith

A piece in the Sunday Times, claims that Geron Corporation will be starting human trials using ES cells to treat spinal cord injury in 2008: “The Geron Corporation, based in America, is seeking approval for the first clinical trial using embryonic stem cells to repair human spinal cords, which . . . . Continue Reading »

Amniotic fluid continues to show great potential for stem cell research. So do every other by product of live births—placenta, umbilical cord blood, amniotic membrane, even cord tissue. As my good friend Richard Doerflinger put it, “Each new birth not only means a new stage in life for . . . . Continue Reading »

A reader sends this story along: Johns Hopkins has completed a 5-way kidney swap, in which five people gave their organs to unrelated people. But it wasn’t pure altruism. It was a barter deal. In return for giving a kidney to an unrelated person, another donor gave a kidney to the first . . . . Continue Reading »

Nikki Bacharach, the daughter of Burt Bacharach and Angie Dickenson, has committed suicide. She had a form of autism, that apparently had left her very depressed. The statement from the family was that she “peacefully committed suicide to escape the ravages” of the disease.The method . . . . Continue Reading »

The Telegraph has the story of a single mother of a 14-year-old with cerebral palsy who wants her daughter to have a hysterectomy. She is fully supportive of Ashley’s parents, who appear to have set off the debate that they wanted.We are in danger of emotionalism overtaking sound medical . . . . Continue Reading »

Okay: Now I am getting a touch of the willies about this situation. Here is the Web site of Ashley’s parents. (HT:Bernhardt Varenius)Ashley’s breasts buds were removed to prevent future discomfort. Her appendix was removed as a prophylactic against appendicitis. The parents have ignited . . . . Continue Reading »

No, this can’t be true. Don’t they know that a frozen embryo isn’t really human? The story should say, “Birth Imminent for Bunch of Cells Saved From . . . . Continue Reading »

The media have been increasingly interested in the story of Ashley, the disabled girl given hormones and surgeries to keep her from maturing. This includes overseas and in Canada and so I was asked by the Discovery Institute to do a podcast on the matter. I did. Here it . . . . Continue Reading »

The eugenics string got kicked off the regular Corner dialogue, but I bring it to you here, if you are interested. Stuttaford calls Leon Kass a “crank” because he (Kass)claims that one of the things in life that focuses us, is the knowledge of our mortality. He also claims we should . . . . Continue Reading »

I don’t usually agree with Art Caplan, and he doesn’t usually agree with me. But he has it right in this piece that imposing a hysterectomy, mastectomy, and hormonal treatments on a disabled girl to make sure she remained small—while certainly well motivated—went too far. He . . . . Continue Reading »