wbur.org
support wbur today!
Listen to this story
Stem Cells: The Facts, Not the Debate
photo

By host Tom Ashbrook:

When science and politics collide, the truth becomes hostage in a hurry to all kinds of shenanigans. Last week, as snowflake babies swirled and President Bush prepared to veto expanded federal funding of embryonic stem cell research, the president’s top political adviser, Karl Rove, sat down with the Denver Post to give a pseudo-science lesson.

Researchers, claimed Rove, have found “far more promise from adult stem cells than from embryonic stem cells.” Wrong, said a chorus of scientists in reply.

Hear a philosophical debate on the facts of stem cell research and where it really stands.

Hear about just the facts on stem cells and the cures they may hold.

Guests:

Brian Walsh, Hong Kong-based staff writer for Time Magazine

Dr. Arnold Kriegstein, Neural Stem Cell researcher and Director of University of California-San Francisco’s Institute for Regeneration Medicine

Dr. Amy Wagers, A Principal Investigator in stem cell research at the Joslin Diabetes Center & Assistant Professor of Pathology at Harvard Medical School

Garreth Cook, Science Writer at the Boston Globe and winner of the 2005 Pulitzer Prize for Explanatory Reporting for his coverage of stem cell research.

 
 
Listener comments
  • stem cells raise hopes and shatter dreams (and im wheelchair bound)

    Posted by johnny quaid, on October 14th, 2008 at 6:31 am EDT
  • srry bout ur luck

    Posted by billy, on October 21st, 2008 at 9:50 am EDT
  • Stem cell research is a good thing because if they could use those stem cells for people like Johnny that’s crippled it could change their life forever.

    Posted by mike ray, on November 20th, 2008 at 9:32 am EST
Recent Shows
Poker: America’s Game
Thursday, November 19, 2009 image

Poker and American history. How the game of presidents, cowboys, gangsters, and online gamblers helped shape America.

Comments [10]
 
Google vs. Murdoch
Thursday, November 19, 2009 image

Rupert Murdoch wants to block the search giant from scooping free content from his newspapers. We’ll look at the staredown.

Comments [132]
On Point Blog
Michael Wolff and Jeff Jarvis on Murdoch v. Google

We had a rousing discussion about Google vs. Murdoch, and what it says about the whole future of news, with Michael Wolff, Jeff Jarvis, and Steven Brill. Here’s what Wolff and Jarvis had to say about the delusions of both Murdoch and Google.

More » | Comments [18]
 
Video: Google CEO Eric Schmidt

Last week, host Tom Ashbrook was on stage with Google CEO Eric Schmidt, asking him about some of the biggest technology and business issues of our time.
It was part of an MIT event held on Thursday, Nov. 5, to commemorate computer science professor Michael Hammer, who died last year. Here’s video of the full interview, courtesy of WBUR.org:

Among other things, Schmidt said the possibilities [...]

More » | Comments [4]
 
California, here we come! And we need your questions!

On Point is headed west!
No, no. Not for good. Only for one show. But it’s a very special show!  The NPR station in Thousand Oaks, California – KCLU – is celebrating their 15th anniversary. We’re lucky to have been on their airwaves for nearly seven years, and they invited us out west to host a live [...]

More » | Comments [10]