Wesley J. Smith

I can’t let it go: I just can’t.A lot of people thought about poor Terri when it was revealed that a British patient diagnosed as PVS was clearly interactive, based on MRI testing. That brought to many people’s minds, mine included, the request of Terri’s folks that she . . . . Continue Reading »

This is interesting, but not for the reasons proponents might claim. Gallup asked this question:When a person has a disease that cannot be cured do you think that a doctor should be allowed by law to end the patient’s life by some painless means if the patient and his family request it?69% . . . . Continue Reading »

In his usual excellent fashion, Michael Fumento has taken the blade of truth and eviscerated the mendacious Advanced Cell Technology. He hits a few points I have not here at Secondhand Smoke, and they are definitely worth recounting: Whereas I have focused primarily on the MSM’s bias, he . . . . Continue Reading »

Sophisticated brain scans of a woman diagnosed to be in a persistent vegetative state has revealed startling levels of activity. Indeed, it may indicate that she is aware.The description of the patient in question is startlingly similar to Terri Schiavo: “Scientists don’t even agree on . . . . Continue Reading »

As the ACT mendacity continues to roil the biotech debate, a former scientist at the company, Jose Cibelli, has achieved an advance that might one day lead to the ability to revert normal body cells into an embryonic state. (I once debated Cibelli and found him to be a thoroughly nice guy.) Cibelli, . . . . Continue Reading »

This is a partial transcript of a podcast aired by Nature. It is an interview with Robert Lanza, of Advanced Cell Technology. (You can hear it for yourself, here.) In it, he clearly claims to have taken one cell from an embryo and derived ES cells without destroying the embryo—when of course . . . . Continue Reading »

This seems to be irrefutable proof that ACT mounted an intentional campaign of lying and deception about its embryonic stem cell non-breakthrough. According to a story newly published in Nature, in an August 23 podcast, ACT’s chief scientist Robert Lanza stated, “What we have done, for . . . . Continue Reading »

I am told that Ronald Green is now saying he was misquoted when the Washington Post quoted him as stating about Advanced Cell Technology’s embryonic stem cell non-breakthrough, “You can honestly say this cell line is from an embryo that was in no way harmed or destroyed.”I very . . . . Continue Reading »

So, Advanced Cell Technology issued a press release today about its Dr. Robert Lanza testifying before a senate subcommittee about his great stem cell non-breakthrough. And despite being caught red-handed hyping the result of the experiment, the company’s PR team continues to spin the story . . . . Continue Reading »

The ACT hype is coming back to haunt the company and should (but won’t) embarrass the company’s willing accomplices in the media. Senator Arlen Specter (R-PA), a strong supporter of ESCR and human cloning research, lambasted Dr. Robert Lanza of ACT for misleading the public in a . . . . Continue Reading »