Stem-Cell Series Nets Pulitzer for 'Globe' Writer

The son of the late President Ronald Reagan has been invited to speak at the Democratic convention next week. He and his mother have become outspoken proponents of stem cell research. Reagan has edited the book, If You Had Five Minutes with the President.

Biomedical ethicist Arthur Caplan, Ph.D. We talk about the news that human embryos are being grown by researchers doing stem cell research. Previously, the cells were harvested from aborted fetuses. The idea of fetal farming is quite controversial. Proponents cite the enormous potential for finding cures to cancer, Alzheimer and diabetes. Opponents are aghast at the notion of using and destroying human life for the sole purpose of research. Caplan is the Director of the Center for Bioethics and Trustee Professor of Bioethics at the University of Pennsylvania.

The Pfizer and Moderna COVID-19 vaccines are the first vaccines to be activated by mRNA — and would not have been possible without the invention of the gene editing technology known as CRISPR. In his new book, The Code Breaker, author Walter Isaacson chronicles the development of CRISPR.