If you were watching the PBS evening news tonight, you were shown a segment on embryonic stem cells. The occasion was the FDA approval for Geron Corp. to proceed with human testing of embryonic stem cell therapy on spinal cord injuries. But the segment waxed into a wide ranging discussion of embryonic stem cell science and the funding problems it has encountered. You might well have come away thinking that stem cell science is being strangled and cures are being prevented from being found, and this is due to political and ethical interference. You would be justified in thinking that, based on the bias of the report.
What was not included in the report was any mention of adult stem cells and the spectacular advances being made there. Not a single mention that adult stem cells even exist, much less the striking advantages that they have over embryonic stem cells. The term "stem cell science" was taken to mean that all stem cell science is embryonic. But the real cures already in progress using adult stem cells were completely and entirely ignored as if non-existant. The bias was palpable.
When science intersects with ethics, there is every reason NOT to believe anything the mainstream media has to say about it. At least not without first researching the issue in depth for oneself.
No comments:
Post a Comment