I Heart Science

Don't you just love science?

I do. I love science. I love science so much, I want to read it poetry at sunset. I want to rub scented oils on it. I want to sleep with it at night, and call it "Baby".

I mean, the scientific method is why we are where we are in this point in our reign at the top of the food chain. How could anyone not love science?

In recent years, there has much ado about stem cell research. Most of the ado has come in the form of moral objections about the source of the stem cells. See, stem cells taken from a fetus can be used to morph into any other kind of human cell. The implications of this mean we could see the end of cancer, as well as many brain disorders for which there are currently no cures. We can use stem cells to make once vibrant, contributing humans well again. But we have to get stem cells from unborn fetuses, and therein lies the conflict.

Arguments about abortion and playing god arise around this issue, and the opponents have done much to keep stem cell research from progressing. Just look at the Bush administration's take on the issue.

But here's why I love science:

Scientists, in what appears to be two separate studies, have been able to cause ordinary human skin cells to behave like stem cells.

In other words, they've engineered skin cells to morph into other types of cells, just like stem cells do. The difference being, skin cells are plentiful, and everyone has them. There is no need to harvest them from fetuses, thereby negating any moral arguments against the research.

Folks, science is nothing if not a master at overcoming problems, even if those problems are the intellectual shortsightedness of people in power.