Articles and Commentary

Some time ago a bright young graduate student was driving me to a conference at a noted Midwestern university. He had a Ph.D. in molecular biology and was finishing his law degree, after which he planned to work for...

Re "Stem cell housecleaning," editorial, Dec. 12

Your editorial appropriately highlights fundamental flaws of Proposition 71, the initiative that created the state's $3-billion stem cell research agency. Its governing board is stacked with representatives of the very institutions seeking to...

Last week was a busy one for stem cell research. But amid the coverage of major technical advances, an all-too-predictable scandal erupted in California's stem cell program. The details reveal improper and potentially illegal influence on the allocation of public...

As the Nov. 21 front-page article "Advance May End Stem Cell Debate" implied, religious conservatives are not the only ones concerned about the use of human cloning for stem cell research. Many liberals, progressives and supporters of women's health and...

Research teams at two prestigious universities announced a major feat of biological alchemy this week: They've taken ordinary human cells and turned them into cells with all the characteristics and promise of embryonic stem cells.

This entirely new way to...

The debate over cloning embryos for stem cell research has been one of the most divisive and unpleasant public controversies of the last decade. Partisans on both sides have sought to polarize the issue for political advantage rather than look...

James Watson has left his post as chancellor of Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory in disgrace. He's apologized for questioning the intelligence of Africans, and issued a statement saying that there "is no scientific basis for such a belief."

Apparently unsatisfied...

Residents of Long Island and elsewhere in the Northeast will soon see television ads recommending they "Be ready against cancer." One might assume these to be public service announcements calling for more exercise or diets rich in antioxidants. Instead, the...