Stem Cell Hysteria

I occasionally read a blogger who entitles posts: Why Oh Why Can't We Have a Better Press Corps? That's the way I feel about the recent hoo hah over the publicity surrounding turning skin cells into stem cells. I knew we were in for a deluge of media-driven hype when the first person I heard interviewed was not a scientist, but was a Catholic bishop. Like other highly hyped medical breakthroughs that make the rounds, this one is a long, long way from being useful to those of us living in the real world. In fact, what it means is there is a long way for researchers to get to the same starting point that they have with embryonic stem cells. But let's not lose sight of the most important scientific advance: we might be able to avoid battling the religious right's agenda to protect every sperm. Gad.