With exiting new developments in stem cell research hitting the media, we thought it would be a great time to revisit the science behind the controversy. Is stem cell therapy really the panacea it's advocates claim it to be? How is an embryonic stem cell different from an adult stem cell and is experimentation on embryos really necessary? For this RD extra, Dr. Greg Forbes gives us an overview of the current state of stem cell research.
Dr. Greg Forbes is a Professor of Biological Sciences at Grand Rapids Community College. He has served as the Director of GRCC's Science Education Center and as Education Director for the Michigan Evolution Education Initiative. He was awarded the Michigan Science Teachers Association highest award, College & University Science Teacher of the Year in 2004.
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9 comments:
This lecture is great. Had nit learned so much in one hour in a ling time.
By the way, you should be proud to know that your show cannot be downloaded in China --- you are too atheist for their censorship.
Hmmm.... I'm surprised China would have a problem with atheism. Maybe it is the freethinking aspect that bothers them.
I am proud to know that. Wow. Thanks for bringing that to our attention.
Is there a link to the video for this lecture? In addition to the great audio, it would really be good to see the video.
Just listened to the Doubtcast of the week and your discussion on China point I commented.
Interesting point is that I was able to download many other news and opinion podcasts from all over the world sitting there but yours was not to be.
Thanks for the episode, I greatly enjoyed it. Here's the YouTube video of the talk:
Stem Cell Research: Possibilities, Sensibilities & Politics
I looooove this guy's lectures. I was a little bummed though when I looked him up. The whole time I had kind of had this image of John Waters giving all his lectures. hehe :-) Now watching him is just weird.
That was very informative about the science of stem cell research, but terrible on the public policy. Dr. Forbes kept implying that there had been a ban on funding of *all* stem cell research, and that there is opposition to *all* stem cell research, when the opposition is only to embryonic stem cell research. I suppose there might be people who are opposed to adult SC research, but I've never heard of them and they're certainly no kind of political force. He also said something along the lines of, "opponents claim there are no working therapies derived from stem cells, but we've been using them for decades." Again, people are saying that there are no proven therapies from *embryonic* stem cells; we've been using adult cells for decades.
He did a great job of explaining the differences between all the different kinds of cells and what they can do, and then everytime he discussed the public policy, he mixed them all up in a way that was very misleading. It's a shame, because otherwise this talk would be a great primer on the subject.
I’m a small peAce-de-resistance of a Larger Picture. God bless you.
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