Wesley J. Smith is a senior fellow at the Discovery Institute’s Center on Human Exceptionalism, and consults for the Patients Rights Council.

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"The Catman Cometh"

From First Thoughts

My piece on the transhumanism conference is in this week’s Weekly Standard, but there is no link available other than for subscribers. Here is a brief overview. In the article, I describe how transhumanism advocates obliterating the belief in intrinsic human value and replacing it with . . . . Continue Reading »

My California Senate Testimony

From First Thoughts

It was a very intense but fair hearing in Sacramento today. I was expecting a low key affair but the press was out in force and the hearing room full of both supporters and opponents of AB 651, the assisted suicide legalization bill. Here is my written testimony, an abridged version of which I read . . . . Continue Reading »

Beware of Stem Cell Quackery

From First Thoughts

Another mass fraud in the making in biotechnology—this time out of China. It appears that Dr. Hongyun Huang has been claiming that his aborted fetal stem cell treatments have had amazing restorative powers. But now, a study soon to be published reveals it may all be a fraud—worse than a . . . . Continue Reading »

Let Great Apes be Apes

From First Thoughts

The world of animal liberation continues to buzz with the potential that Spain will soon grant human-type rights to great apes. I weigh in on this issue in today’s San Francisco Chronicle, by pointing out that not only do animal not understand the concept of rights, but that granting rights to . . . . Continue Reading »

Huntington’s Disease Cured in Mice

From First Thoughts

Wow. Researchers have been able to stop mice from developing Huntington’s disease symptoms by inhibiting an enzyme that works on a protein, that is responsible for destroying brain function. This is fantastic news and was published in the peer-reviewed journal Cell. This breakthrough . . . . Continue Reading »

My "Starbuck’s Cup" is Out

From First Thoughts

Starbuck’s has an interesting program called, “The way I see it,” in which people who are somewhat in the public eye submit pithy bits of wisdom that are then printed on the cups (usually seen beneath the hot cup holders). I submitted one last year that was accepted. I just heard . . . . Continue Reading »