Silencing Science (Again)

"Two scientists from President Bush's top advisory board on cutting-edge medical research yesterday published a detailed criticism of the board's own reports, and said the board skewed scientific facts in service of a political and ideological cause," reports Gareth Cook. One of the scientists, Janet Rowley, is a member of the President's Council on Bioethics. The other Elizabeth H. Blackburn, is a highly regarded biologist who was fired from the panel last Friday. Their critique charges that reports issued by the council have played down the potential of embryonic stem cell research, which is opposed by fundamentalist anti-abortion groups and by the Bush administration.