Human beings share 98% of their genes with chimpanzees, 92% of their genes with mice, 44% with fruit flies, 26% with yeast, and 18% with thale cress. I don’t even know what a thale cress is, other than it is a weed and one of the first organisms to have Read more…
One of the challenges of modern living is the need to make ethical decisions about emerging technologies. In many cases, the technology is up and running long before we figure out how best to use it.
The stem cell bill that President Bush just vetoed would have allowed the National Institutes of Health to fund research using stem cell lines developed after 2001. Is that sufficiently confusing?
Let’s back up a bit. First of all, a stem cell is an undifferentiated cell that can divide and differentiate into other cell types. Consequently, researchers are very excited about the potential of growing replacement cells for damaged tissues, such as in cases of spinal cord damage.
Not all stem cells are equal. There are three main sources today for stem cells–adult stem cells, cord blood stem cells, and embryonic stem cells. It is the latter type that is controversial. These are harvested from the blastocyst stage of the embryo, about 5 days following conception.
In 2001, President Bush signed legislation that would provide federal funds for research using stem cell lines already in existence, since these embryos had already been destroyed, but would not fund research requiring the destruction of additional embryos. The National Institutes of Health (NIH) funded 607 million dollars of stem cell research in 2005.
Some researchers argue that this is unnecessarily restrictive, and that their research is hindered by the inability to study new cell lines. (more…)
I was cruising around R. Kennedy’s website after he commented on my textbook pricing post, and found lots of interesting stuff. I especially liked the link to the Consumption Rules blog, where the following breakdown for textbook pricing was discussed:
Consumption Rules says the data come from the National Association of College Stores. Of course, this only works for brand new books. Once the bookstore buys the book back from students, usually at a very reduced price, they resell at nearly new costs. This saves the bookstore all of those nasty costs that start with “publisher” or “author.” In other words, the people who produced the work in the first place only get paid the first semester or quarter the book is used. (more…)
I have lived most of my life in California, with the exception of a few years in New York and Houston. I was always amused by the fear of earthquakes expressed by people who are regularly challenged by blizzards, tornadoes, and hurricanes. Sure, you can be in the wrong Read more…
Cal Poly is an unusual university. In Fall 2005, we enrolled 56.5% men and 43.5% women, according to the official Cal Poly Fact Book. Although we have no formal research as to why this occurs, most people assume the campus emphasis on Engineering has something to do with it. Read more…