This quote, about 60% down the page, jumped out at me:
It’s the first inanimate “Anna Kournikova of …” we’ve ever uncovered. According to the U.K.’s Daily Star, in poker “the hand Ace-King is described as an Anna Kournikova — because it looks good, but can often be beaten.”
All in all, a good (if simple-minded) read. with some nice links.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m all for stem cell research that’s properly conducted and overseen by the proper regulatory bodies, but I’d rather not have it at all than have it “advanced” on the basis of fraudulent science.
Even if the fraud investigation fails to bear fruit, although I doubt that will be the result, Hwang Woo Suk’s ethics have already been called into question, on account of pressuring some of his female lab techs into donating eggs for some of the stem cell lines his lab has produced.
It’s bad enough that this Hwang Woo Suk has made a big splash by using the media to hype up some bad science, but what really chaps my ass is the fact that the fallout from this sort of scandal could set other researchers back years, on account of stigma attached to the field because of its association with this jackass. Funding agencies, particularly those under the U.S. government and subject to political pressures from fundamentalist hacks in this country will almost certainly skew even farther away from such work, whether the ban that’s currently in effect stays or not.
Is it too much to ask that scientists, particularly those in controversial fields of research, try to rise above the appeal of media attention and stamps issued in their honor to uphold the highest ethical principles? I know it’s one of the very long-term effects that economists always talk about no one ever accounting for, but I guarantee you that unimpeachable integrity will ultimately advance your field much farther than the instant gratification of extra funding brought on by media buzz.
anybody still around/interested in a trip downtown?
There’s still hope in the senate, but piggybacking Alaskan drilling on the last-chance defense funding bill is pure bs.
I’ll go back to my bubble now.
