Spot The Scientist

The World At One featured a discussion of the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Bill. In favour of human-animal hybridity, spare part babies and the abolition of fatherhood was the Chairman of the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority, Professor Lisa Jardine, who is Centenary Professor of Renaissance Studies at Queen Mary, University of London, and a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society. Against was the Anglican Bishop of Swindon, a PhD and former practitioner in the field. Where has he been up to now?

Lay participation at every level, from juries to Parliament to the HFEA, is integral to our culture, and absolutely vital to our liberty and democracy. Its corrosion has been and is the corrosion of our culture, of our liberty and of our democracy. But so much for the fiction that this is a dispute between clued-up scientists and us uncomprehending artsy, and especially churchy, people. I don't think anyone would have too much trouble spotting the scientist here.

But, of course. Embryonic stem cell research has yielded absolutely nothing. Those who used to practise it have accordingly moved on to adult and cord blood stem cells instead. And those still advocating it, as well as these further horrors, have economic, social, cultural and political agenda wholly unrelated to science.