Scientists guilty of 'hyping' benefits of gene research
By The Independent,
The Independent (UK)
| 09. 05. 2005
The leading fertility scientist Lord Winston has hit out at senior scientists, including two Nobel laureates, for making exaggerated claims about the supposed benefits of scientific research, warning they could trigger a public backlash.
Speaking on the eve of his presidential address to the annual meeting of the British Association for the Advancement of Science at Trinity College, Dublin, the former head of fertility medicine at the Hammersmith Hospital in London also criticised the "hype" over stem cells. He said stem cells are unlikely to be of much use for many years.
Lord Winston called on his colleagues to use more moderate language when describing scientific breakthroughs, singling out in his speech senior scientists and naming two Nobel laureates for making dangerously arrogant remarks.
"James Watson's assertion about the value of tampering with the human germ-line are a pretty good example," he said. Professor Watson, who won a Nobel prize for discovering the DNA double helix with Francis Crick, has extolled the possibility of altering the genes of germ-line sperm or egg cells to eradicate inherited diseases.
Lord Winston also...
Related Articles
By Marianne Lamers, NEMO Kennislink [cites CGS' Katie Hasson] | 09.23.2025
Een rijtje gespreide vulva’s gaapt de bezoeker aan. Zó ziet een bevalling eruit, en zó een baarmoeder met foetus. Een zwangerschap, maar dan zonder zwangere vrouw, gestript van zorgen, gêne en pijn. De zwangerschapsmodellen en oefenbekkens, te zien in de...
By Auriane Polge, Science & Vie [cites CGS' Katie Hasson] | 09.19.2025
L’idée de pouvoir choisir certaines caractéristiques de son futur enfant a longtemps relevé de la science-fiction ou du débat éthique. Aujourd’hui, les technologies de séquençage et les algorithmes d’analyse génétique repoussent les limites de ce qui semblait encore impossible. Au croisement...
By Charmayne Allison, ABC News | 09.21.2025
It has been seven years since Chinese biophysicist He Jiankui made an announcement that shocked the world's scientists.
He had made the world's first gene-edited babies.
Through rewriting DNA in twin girls' embryos, the man who would later be dubbed...
By Natalie Ram, Anya E. R. Prince, Jessica L. Roberts, Dov Fox, and Kayte Spector-Bagdady, Science | 09.11.2025
After declaring bankruptcy in March 2025, direct-to-consumer (DTC) genetic testing company 23andMe sold the data of more than 15 million people around the world to TTAM Research Institute, a nonprofit organization created by 23andMe’s founder and long-time CEO. 23andMe’s customers...