I opened the newspaper yesterday to the headline “Skin Cells Converted to Stem Cells.” The subtitle tells why this was front page news: “Scientists’ Work Could Clear Moral Hurdle to Embryonic Research.” The news story gushed about how this discovery would lead to techniques for organ transplants. Buried well into the story it was revealed that practical applications of stem cell research are years if not decades in the future. It’s a kind of tabloid journalism of science.

Live! Nude! Stem cells! [Read more…]

Has someone you know gotten really sick? Liver failure. Quadruple bypass. Cancer. You start looking for signs and symptoms. You get yourself worked up because YOU MIGHT BE NEXT. This is called fear: what happened to them could happen to you. So watch out. Emotionally, you look for the closest rock to hide behind or tree to climb. [Read more…]

In the latest issue of the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology, researchers report on the prevalence of allergies among Americans. Their study estimates that over half of Americans have an allergic reaction to one of the 10 allergens that were tested during the ongoing National Health And Nutrition Examination Survey (referred to as NHANES) conducted by the National Institutes of Health. [Read more…]