The Intersection » Stem Cells

Why the Stem Cell Fight Should, at Last, Be Over

Chris Mooney — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 17:34:50 +0000

My latest Science Progress column reacts to the new finalized stem cell guidelines promulgated by the National Institutes of Health this week. First, I give the background on Bush’s awful policy, finally superseded:

The Bush administration’s increasingly unpopular policy, you’ll recall, stated that no stem cell lines derived from blastocysts after the date of the former president’s August 9, 2001 speech on the matter could be used in research receiving federal funds. This raised a host questions, both about ethics and also about coherence—for how could a rule based simply on which day Bush gave his speech have any moral authority?

The policy lacked scientific authority as well, as it was soon revealed that Bush’s promise of “more than sixty genetically diverse” stem cell lines for federally funded research was simply bogus and based on a gross overestimate of the number of available lines. There were really only 21, and “genetically diverse” was a dubious assertion to boot. So the Bush policy wound up constraining research far more than it had at first appeared, and far more than promised. This story of scientific carelessness (or worse) during the president’s nationally televised stem cell address has now been told and retold, ...

Dear Wingnut: You’re a Wingnut

Chris Mooney — Wed, 13 May 2009 17:16:39 +0000

I just came across this Salon.com “Dear Wingnut” piece, written by a pseudonymous conservative, who in this installment tries to defend the Republican record on science. It’s pretty audacious stuff, either completely uninformed about the true nature of the critiques of the GOP that I and others have made, or willing to dodge them entirely. And to top it off, the piece goes out with a whack at mainstream climate science.

Wingnuttery indeed.

Here’s a brief example of what we’re dealing with:

As president, George W. Bush put a scientist in charge of the Energy Department and created the position of U.S. undersecretary of science; proposed an Advanced Energy Initiative that called for a quantum increase in funding available for research into and development of new, cutting-edge technologies to lead America to more abundant and stable energy supplies; and proposed the American Competitiveness Initiative to, in the words of former Secretary of Energy Samuel W. Bodman, “fortify America’s leadership in science through additional research funding in the physical sciences and by strengthening math and science education.”

House Republicans, under Speaker Newt Gingrich, proposed doubling the budget for the National Institutes of Health and dramatically increased federal financial support for the fight against diabetes. ...

Obama Unleashes Stem Cell Research, Moves to Restore Scientific Integrity

Chris Mooney — Mon, 09 Mar 2009 15:40:06 +0000

In the looking glass world of some conservatives and contrarians, the Democratic war on science continues today….just see here for proof.

Not only has our new president reversed Bush’s stem cell policy, and directed his science adviser–who really, really needs to be Senate confirmed–to “develop a strategy for restoring scientific integrity to government decision making” (something I and many others have called for). But in some ways better still, he has given a big speech about embryonic stem cell research that is scientifically accurate, cautious, and does not oversell its potential–while still explaining why we ought to support it.

To wit:

At this moment, the full promise of stem cell research remains unknown, and it should not be overstated. But scientists believe these tiny cells may have the potential to help us understand, and possibly cure, some of our most devastating diseases and conditions. To regenerate a severed spinal cord and lift someone from a wheelchair. To spur insulin production and spare a child from a lifetime of needles. To treat Parkinson’s, cancer, heart disease and others that affect millions of Americans and the people who love them.

But that potential will not reveal itself on its own. Medical miracles do not ...

Obama, Gearing Up for a Full-Fledged Democratic War on Science, Liberates Stem Cell Research

Chris Mooney — Sat, 07 Mar 2009 16:08:40 +0000

So, I have to say I find this funny.

On the one hand we have the current, perverse attempt to forecast all the ways in which Democrats and scientists are going to fall into big conflicts soon, now that the Dems have so much power. The idea here is to construct a false equivalence between the egregious abuses of the Bush administration and a few potential conflicts of a very different nature that could maybe happen sometime in the future under this administration.

Meanwhile, we have Obama about to stand up and, you know, liberate embryonic stem cell research. Jeez, Mr. President, didn’t you get the memo? You’re supposed to start throwing your weight around and pissing scientists off! And yet here you are giving them one thing they’ve wanted more than almost anything else for nearly a decade.

Sheesh. Just let us know when you’re ready for the real war on science to start already. There are a lot of journalists out there who have already written their stories and are just waiting to run them.

Colbert Retorts

Chris Mooney — Thu, 29 Jan 2009 15:45:17 +0000

My latest Science Progress column is up: It makes the case that Stephen Colbert is the heir to Johnny Carson in terms of talk show promotion of science.

It also includes various lame and stupid talking points that I made up and didn’t use on the show, such as the following hypothetical Q&A responses:

Didn’t scientists start the “war” in the first place? Didn’t they commit acts of aggression?

Yes, if you mean by learning things.

Why should I care about science?

Because America is really good at it–much better than France.

Is there really a “war” on science? Where are the bodies?

Well, there haven’t been heads spitted on pikes–but there has been the equivalent of torture. Scientific studies have been confined in dark places for long periods of time. And they’ve been put on the rack and twisted until they can be made to say anything.

Of course, the best hypothetical Colbert question that I heard while preparing for the show came from Eric Roston: “Why do hurricanes hate America?”

You can read the full column here.

The Colbert Video, Embedded

Chris Mooney — Wed, 28 Jan 2009 08:20:03 +0000

Here it is:

.cc_box a:hover .cc_home{background:url(‘http://www.comedycentral.com/comedycentral/video/assets/syndicated-logo-over.png’) !important;}.cc_links a{color:#b9b9b9;text-decoration:none;}.cc_show a{color:#707070;text-decoration:none;}.cc_title a{color:#868686;text-decoration:none;}.cc_links a:hover{color:#67bee2;text-decoration:underline;}

The Colbert ReportMon – Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c Obama’s New Science Policy – Chris Mooney

Colbert Report Full Episodes
Colbert Report Tickets Paul McCartney Appearance
More Funny Videos

I’ll have more to say about the whole experience in my next column….thanks to everyone who wrote in with positive words about the segment.

One Last Whack (at John Marburger)

Chris Mooney — Wed, 21 Jan 2009 13:51:48 +0000

My latest Science Progress column is a response to Seed‘s interview with the outgoing science adviser. All I can say is wow, Dr. Marburger, you really don’t get it, and maybe you never will.

Either way, we Bush administration science critics remain entirely unimpressed with your inability to even properly characterize (much less answer) our arguments. And that wind of change that you might feel around you right now–we’re part of it. You’re not.

You can read the full column here.

Scientist Foot-Shooting

Chris Mooney — Mon, 11 Sep 2006 12:18:49 +0000

In my new talk, I strongly emphasize that scientists need to be strategically aware of how they are communicating their knowledge and their results in politically contentious areas. If they’re not careful, not only might they communicate badly–but what they say might actually backfire.

It’ hard to think of a better case study than the recent controversy over the latest work by the biotech firm Advanced Cell Technology. ACT’s scientists published a study in Nature about deriving pluripotent stem cell lines from single cells taken from an embryo, a result touted as “an approach that does not harm embryos.” Only, in the actual experiment, many embryos were destroyed–a fact not lost on opponents of embryonic stem cell research.

Over at Blog.Bioethics.Net, Glenn McGee rightly excoriates ACT, and notes how many right wing tropes they have played directly into:

Believe it or not I was working on a column about the dangers of well-intentioned but hype-seeking stem cell researchers – finished it actually – before the Advanced Cell Technology people decided that the correct way to please the right to life crowd was to take IVF embryos (all together now, chant with the predictable pro-life response: “IVF=murder”) that have been put ...

So Who’s Vulnerable?

Chris Mooney — Wed, 19 Jul 2006 18:54:07 +0000

Bush’s stem cell veto is going to have big, big political repercussions. The stem cell issue will certainly feature prominently in multiple congressional races this fall. So now the pressing political question becomes, which members of Congress who are up for re-election, and who support Bush on stem cells (and therefore have votes on the record against expanding the policy), are most vulnerable? Hmm, I imagine Santorum is one of them….list your favorite enemies of science below, with an emphasis on folks actually up for reelection this year.

The Bush Veto: The Republican War on Science Escalates

Chris Mooney — Wed, 19 Jul 2006 17:30:36 +0000

Art Caplan has an extremely powerful piece denouncing Bush’s latest action. And indeed, it’s truly unbelievable: Bush misleads us about the extent to which his stem cell policy will support research, never apologizes, and then blocks the expansion of that policy once it has become entirely clear that it did not succeed on the president’s own terms–i.e., by supporting adequate research. But let Caplan say it:

With his veto the president has now reaffirmed a policy that never made any sense, garnered no scientific support to speak of, was abandoned by both houses of Congress and the leaders of his own party and, most importantly, got no traction with those most in need of the benefits of the research – patients and their families.

The President has now told doctors, researchers and patients to drop dead. Science policy in the Bush administration is best made in the White House, not by scientists and not by Congress.

Meanwhile, further extending the war on science, we learn via the Progress Report that Karl Rove has declared that scientists have found “far more promise from adult stem cells than from embryonic stem cells.” If that’s really true, then why don’t Bush and Rove ...