Psychic Science?

Dr. Jean Peduzzi-Nelson of the University of Alabama at Birmingham seems to have missed her calling. Rather than offering 'expert' testimony to the Senate Commerce science subcommittee, she ought to be running a psychic hotline. After all, she has enough confidence in her extra-sensory communication with the spirit world to assure the committee that "There is no doubt that President Reagan would not favor federal support of research using human embryos."

Funny, that's information that seems unavailable to Reagan's widow and son, who one presumes might have insight into his opinions at least equal to Dr. Peduzzi-Nelson's.

The UAB researcher's comment spoiled the day for the committee chair, Sen. Sam Brownback, who attempted to stage a "good news hearing" on adult stem cell research, skirting the issue of embryonic stem cells altogether. Peduzzi-Nelson opened the door, though, prompting Senator Frank Lautenberg to ask the obvious. "Are you a member of a pro-life committee?" Lautenberg inquired, and the Doctor ducked, responding "Whether I'm pro-life or pro-choice, I wish all these types of things could be kept out of the discussion." But all those types of things can't be kept out, of course, because people like Peduzzi-Nelson are reduced to channelling support from the afterlife, while those whose agenda is the actual advancement of medical science advocate research in the land of the living. For instance...

Robert Goldstein, chief scientific officer of the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation International, said the embryonic cells show much more promise for treating diabetes than adult cells do. "Pursue both avenues simultaneously and with equal vigor," Goldstein said. Irving Weissman, a Stanford University scientist and a leading advocate of embryonic stem cell research, also said both approaches hold tremendous promise.

Me? I'm still waiting for the hearings on the Ronald Reagan Medical Research Act of 2004.