Rage against the Luddites

I’m trying very hard to stick to the “if you haven’t got anything good to say, don’t say anything” maxim, but every once in a while, something has to give.

Russel T. Davies has, in his most recent Radio Times interview, opted to say one of the more crass things I’ve ever heard come out of the mouth of a human. While talking about Daleks being created in a genetic experiment (which, apparently makes them brilliant geneticists - just like Frankenstein’s monster was adept at lobbing together body parts to make pals...), he then goes on to say, “And in an age of GM crops and DNA experiments, that strikes a chord with all of us. I think we’re all slightly afraid of all this stem-cell research.”

Now, I’ll put up with so much before I snap, and this has done it for me.

From the above quote, RTD obviously doesn’t know what the purpose or methodology of stem-cell research is, what its ultimate benefits could be, or how genetics works. More importantly, ill-informed commenting in a public arena and potentially swaying the opinions of people by making such daft statements is what drove research back about ten years in the US.

Go tell Michael J. Fox, any Parkinson’s sufferer or anyone who’s had loss of function as the result of a spinal cord trauma that people should be scared of stem-cell research. Thanks a bunch, RTD.