The Celltex Affair

The stem-cell tourism industry is not exactly renowned for ethical probity, much less scientific rigor. Given its reputation for peddling untested remedies to desperate patients, not to mention its starring role in several sting operations on 60 Minutes, a few eyebrows went up when one of the nation's leading journals of medical ethics relocated to the offices of a commercial stem cell clinic in Sugar Land, Texas. In December, the editor of the American Journal of Bioethics, a man called Glenn McGee, took up a new job with Celltex Therapeutics as its president for ethics and strategic initiatives. He now works for a new business venture that is partnered with a shady South Korean company known for its commercial puppy-cloning ventures, and co-founded by the surgeon who made headlines last year by treating Rick Perry's back pain with unapproved adult stem cells. Some bioethicists are defending the move, suggesting that any potential conflicts of interest can be managed, but they have failed to appreciate the extent of McGee's questionable history with stem cell tourism—in particular, his...