The Stem-Cell Conspiracy
The Washington Post muddles a major breakthrough in adult stem-cell research, while the U.K. marches blindly on.
by Nigel M. de S. Cameron
posted 08/29/2005 03:30 p.m.

The great stem-cell debate has been portrayed in the mainstream press as a conflict between science and religion, between facts and prejudice. This has never been fair, but The Washington Post sinks to a new level in its take on the strongest evidence so far in favor of the administration's refusal to fund new embryo destruction. Their news report on an extraordinary Harvard story reads like an op-ed, and it has the almost incredible title: "Stem Cell Advance Muddles Debate: Work May Stall Efforts to Lift Research Limits."

This reads like a headline from The Onion. Scientists come up with a Nobel-level breakthrough allowing scientists to convert human skin cells into embryonic stem cells. They have the honesty to publish results that are politically inconvenient (because we can now say, "I told you so, ethical science works"). And the press frames their achievement as if it "muddles" the debate—because, of course, it makes it harder for those who want the federally funded destruction of embryos.

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