Human Exceptionalism

This article, published by Investor’s Business Daily, quotes Discovery Institute Senior Fellow Wesley J. Smith: “A story that doesn’t validate the stem cell mantra that embryonic stem cells offer the ‘best hope’ for future cures isn’t worth much attention,” writes leading bioethics critic Wesley Smith in the Weekly Standard. The rest of the article can be found here.

John Derbyshire, the popular writer for National Review Online , recently published a “self-interview” disclosing how and why he lost his faith . Generally, I would not comment on such a personal matter or criticize anyone’s internal struggles. But Derbyshire went further than just to reject his former Christianity. He also attacked the crucial notion that human beings have a Read More ›

DID YOU SEE THE SIZE OF THOSE HEADLINES? “Stem Cells Used to Create Artificial Liver,” the New York Times screamed on its front page. “Breakthrough! Stem Cells to One Day Create Organ for Liver Transplant,” was how the Washington Post put it. “Stem Cell Breakthrough Demonstrates Viability of New Science,” yelled the Los Angeles Times. “Stem Cell Hope for People Read More ›

Below are two links to archived audio of Wesley J. Smith’s recent radio appearances discussing stem cell research and public policy in Wisconsin and Missouri. Charlie Sykes talks with Smith about recent political ads featuring Michael J. Fox. Newsradio 620 WTMJ (WI) Derek Gilbert talks with Smith about Michael J. Fox and Amendment 2. The Eagle 93.9 KSSZ (Columbia, MO)

In the new novel “Hunters of Dune,” biotechnologists of the future create “ghoulas” — clones made from the dead — in breeding contraptions known as “axlotl tanks.” About 100 pages into the novel, the reader is shocked to learn that axlotl tanks are really unconscious women whose bodies have been expropriated to serve the greater good as so many gestating Read More ›

LifeNews.com Note: Wesley J. Smith is a senior fellow at the Discovery Institute and a special consultant to the Center for Bioethics and Culture. His current book is Consumer’s Guide to a Brave New World. Here is proof positive that the international drive to legalize assisted suicide/euthanasia is not really about terminal illness. The World Federation of Right to Die Read More ›

WHEN CRITICS BEMOAN the politicization of science, they usually point a bitter finger at the Bush administration. Their condemnation should actually be aimed in the opposite direction. Increasingly, it is the scientists themselves—or better stated the leaders of the science sector—who are devolving science from the apolitical pursuit of knowledge into a distinctly ideological enterprise. The creation of a new Read More ›

IT HAS BEEN ABOUT two weeks since the international media excitedly declared to the world that Robert Lanza, head scientist at Massachusetts biotechnology firm Advanced Cell Technology, had derived human embryonic stem cells without destroying embryos. The story sparked a media feeding frenzy, with newspapers and television stories around the world loudly applauding the advance as a way to circumvent Read More ›

Scientists at Advanced Cell Technology (ACT) had indeed issued a press release claiming they could obtain stem cells by taking only one cell from an early 8-10 cell embryo, which, the release claimed, permitted the embryos to remain viable. (Conventional ESCR is conducted upon later-stage embryos at the 100-200 cell stage, which destroys the embryo.)  But upon closer investigation, it Read More ›

Click here to learn more about Discovery Institute’s Bioethics program. “NEW STEM CELL METHOD avoids destroying embryos,” the New York Times headline blared. “Stem cell breakthrough may end political logjam,” chimed in the Los Angeles Times. “Embryos spared in stem cell creation,” affirmed USA Today. Reporting the same supposed scientific achievement by Advanced Cell Technology (ACT), the Washington Post quoted Read More ›