I opened the newspaper yesterday to the headline “Skin Cells Converted to Stem Cells.” The subtitle tells why this was front page news: “Scientists’ Work Could Clear Moral Hurdle to Embryonic Research.” The news story gushed about how this discovery would lead to techniques for organ transplants. Buried well into the story it was revealed that practical applications of stem cell research are years if not decades in the future. It’s a kind of tabloid journalism of science.
Live! Nude! Stem cells!
The politics of stem cell research are big news because stem cells have been given the status of a miracle cure. In fact, the story of stem cell research is much more complicated, as we describe in the latest issue of the Progressive Health Observer.
For example, techniques for organ transplants from stem cells are a long way off. Much closer are techniques for growing specific tissues that can be used for testing the effects of pharmaceuticals. Which, of course, isn’t mentioned at all in the mainstream media.
This kind tabloid science is widespread and it’s a problem. Because of the place science has in our culture, our first inclination is to believe that reporting on science is about the facts or the truth or some such thing. Instead, we have to unravel the real story from clues in the news. The stem cell story isn’t about anything that’s going to affect your health any time soon. It’s about lubricating the research money valve by amping up excitement for this latest miracle cure.
Let me give you another example. Two weeks ago the headline was “Multiple Vaccines Won’t Harm Kids.” The news here was a Danish study which reported that giving multiple vaccines to kids did not increase the incidence of infectious diseases for which the kids weren’t vaccinated. The news story rolled out expert after public health official after researcher to celebrate this conclusion. Parents can be well assured. Nothing to worry about at all. All this anti-vaccination fuss is for nothing.
At the back of the article, one paragraph quoted Barbara Fisher of the National Vaccine Informaiton Center, who said, “It’s not the infectious diseases that parents are concerned about. They’re concerned about learning disabilities and autism and asthma and diabetes.”
That paragraph was preceded by one which dismissed those concerns as without scientific merit. The paragraph that followed Barbara Fisher’s comment dismissed all this anti-vaccination hysteria with yet another sanctioned expert quoted as saying, “This is a very reassuring study.”
This vaccine story is about getting parents to roll up their kids’ sleeves and line them up for an inoculation. It’s not about safety and it’s certainly not about educating parents so they can make an informed decision. That, I’m afraid, is left to us. To work with the clues and unravel the real story.
