Rethinking Stem Cells

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Sometimes a whisper is worth a hundred public hearings. Certainly if you are the former First Lady, looking to catch the current president’s ear.

Nancy Reagan is said to be quietly lobbying George W. Bush to change his position on stem cell research. “A lot of time is being wasted,” says Mrs. Reagan through a leak to the New York Times. “A lot of people who could be helped are not being helped.” A parade of medical researchers has said the same at the Senate.

Meanwhile, the president’s own Council on Bioethics can’t decide if public money should be used in furthering research, so it is calling for a four-year delay. The debate cuts to the very nucleus of bioethics and the nexus of politics and science.

Guests:

Janet D. Rowley, deputy dean for research, Pritzker School of Medicine, University of Chicago, member, President’s Council on Bioethics

David Prentice, Professor of Life Sciences, Indiana State University

George Annas, chair, department of Health Law, Boston University School of Public Health