The seven science advisers Barack Obama has chosen are surely the most distinguished group of scientists at the highest levels of government in decades.
As America struggles with such weighty issues as the war in Iraq, the foundering economy and the run-up to a historic presidential election, it may be difficult to recall that seven years ago this month the most wrenching issue facing the nation was human embryonic stem cell research.
Calmatives agents are in theory an attractive approach not only for national security purposes but also for domestic policing. However, the time lag between the release of a substance and its effect on targeted individuals makes currently available opiates such as fentanyl poor candidates for such uses. It is not well understood, for instance, why the group holding the Moscow Theater hostages did not react when it became apparent that something was going on in the confines of the building, but perhaps they were so overcome with exhaustion that they did not register events quickly enough. Whatever the explanation, there is no assurance that future hostage-takers bent on suicide could be managed in this way.
In 1985 the American public was treated to detailed information about President Reagan’s colon when he was diagnosed and successfully treated for cancer. I wondered in a Washington Post Health Section column at that time how much intimate knowledge about a president’s, or any elected official’s, physical condition the American public was entitled to have. [...]
Video
Jonathan Moreno talks about a why the new effort in Congress to lift the ban on federal funding for embryonic stem cell research is vital to move research forward.
Report
Report addresses uncertainties that need consideration as genetic medicine gets increasingly personal and the Senate considers genetic non-discrimination legislation.
The work of University of Wisconsin-Madison and Kyoto University scientists will jump start the field of regenerative medicine, writes Jonathan Moreno.
The Center for American Progress launches a new project, Science Progress, which includes a daily blog, heavy-hitting web-content, and coming soon, a print publication.
The weight of science and the strength of bipartisanship stand behind stem cell research, yet Bush won’t listen, write Moreno and Berger.
Jonathan D. Moreno recalls the life and influence of the most important progressive philosopher of the last 40 years.
I recently presented an undergraduate class with this quotation: “Some day we will realize that the prime duty, the inescapable duty of the good citizen of the right type is to leave his blood behind him in the world, and that we have no business to perpetuate citizens of the wrong type.” Most of the [...]
Congress should help build on researchers' stem cell momentum, write Sam Berger and Jonathan Moreno.
Yesterday’s announcement that scientists had created embryonic-like stem cells without destroying embryos is a major step forward for the field. Today, the House has a similar opportunity to advance stem cell research by passing legislation to update our federal stem cell policy. Read more here.
Report
New report gives an analysis of state and federal funding for stem cell research alongside key recommendations.
As the Senate debates stem cell research legislation this week, Moreno and Berger note that science leads to life-saving cures, not ideology.