LifeEthics
ethics for sale
No dissent allowed in Nature Neuroscience journal
I received a reply to my letter to the editors at Nature Neuroscience yesterday: 9th May 2007 Dear Dr. Nuckols, Thank you for your letter to the editor of 3rd May. Having had a chance to consider it, we do not feel that this subject would be appropriate for our letters section. We think that … Continue reading
(Un)Ethical Science Journals
I guess the first question should be, “Where is the scientific and ethical justification for demanding public funding of science without public restraints?” The next is, “When there is public disagreement, what is the ethical way to conduct the discussion about the disagreement?” I’m sure that the answer to the second is not “hit and … Continue reading
Religion and zealotry of one sort or another
The National Review has published an editorial by Colleen Carroll Campbell on the resignation of St. Louis’ Archbishop Raymond Burke from his position on the board of that city’s Children’s Hospital foundation. The Archbishop objected to the invitation to the outspoken (and vocal) proponent for abortion and embryonic stem cell research, Cheryl Crow. Ms. Campbell … Continue reading
>Yellow Brick Award
>The Yellow Brick Award will note those in the Biotech and Bioethics research and policy communities who attempt to lead us down a winding, deceptive path, using explosions, smoke and mirrors, pulleys and levers, novel definitions, distraction, projection and destruction. There are usually at least a few wicked witches, projectiles (not necessarily houses), lots of … Continue reading
Texas Politics, Bias and Bioethics
“All politics is local,” is a quote attributed to – and the title of a book co-authored by – the late, former Speaker of the House, Tip O’Neill. The lesson seems to be one that Texas State Representative Juan Garcia, D-Corpus Christi, learned well. It doesn’t hurt to stack the deck in your favor, either. … Continue reading
Language change alert (“Embryonic” at 8 weeks)
We were due, I guess. We went through the redefinition of pregnancy (implanted in a uterus”), embryo (after 14 days or implanted in a uterus), cloning (therapeutic cloning, then somatic cell nuclear transplantation, nuclear transplantation, patient specific stem cells, production of “early stem cells, etc.) And now, we’re supposed to move the line of “embryonic” … Continue reading
Publish (destroy embryos) or perish
Professor James L. Sherley is losing weight on his hunger strike, but Fox News and Reuters are the only mainstream media outlets to take notice. It seems that racial discrimination, storming the Administration building of a university and even extreme measures of weight loss are not newsworthy if you’re critical of embryonic stem cell research … Continue reading
Majority of Doctors Oppose Abortion
In that NEJM article that I blogged on earlier, there are numbers about the “Intrinsic religiosity” of physicians, based on the answers of the 1000 or so docs who answered the questionaire. The authors seem to have no feeling for the history of bioethics as an outcome of the Holocaust or Tuskegee. Instead, the fuss … Continue reading
Bad, Bad Doctors (Religious, with Consciences)
The NEJM has a free on line article evaluating the results of a survey of doctors, “Religion, Conscience and Controversial Clinical Practices,” which is a perfect example that far too much of the effort of “medical ethics” or “bioethics,” goes into deciding who can be killed. “In recent years, several states have passed laws that … Continue reading
>Nanofiber Scaffolds for Neural Stem Cells (and some truth)
>Johns Hopkins researchers report that they have developed “nanofibers” impregnated with special proteins which allow them to grow neural stem cells from embryonic stem cells without “requiring high concentrations of growth factors.” One of the researchers, Neuroscientist Hongjun Song, comments on the immediate results of the research, which will not include actual patient therapy: “Eventually, … Continue reading
Visit WingRight
- “American Fiction,” the movie – and life
- Maternal Morbidity with Premature Rupture of Membranes
- Counterintuitive abortion report
- Paris at Café de la Paix
- Political, purposeful lies (Francis Collins & Anthony Fauci)
- Comprehensive review of Texas’ Heartbeat Act
- Biden to Ask OSHA to Mandate Vaccines at Businesses With 100 or More Workers
- Long Post Reviewing COVID19 Myths
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