What Kind of Bioethics Council Do We Need?

Bioethics councils have come in many shapes and sizes, with different mandates, memberships, and outcomes. What kind of bioethics council would best serve the nation now? How can we move beyond the rancor and polarization-not to mention hyperbole and distortions on all sides-that in recent years have characterized so much of bioethics and the broader politics of science? There is no one answer, but a new council must incorporate viewpoints from Americans of all walks of life, maintain an appropriate distance from both scientific and commercial interests, and build on the experience of other nations.

President Obama's leadership on stem cell policies and politics begins to show a way forward. The President opened the remarks that accompanied his March executive order loosening restrictions on federal funding of embryonic stem cell research by invoking the work's great promise, and then immediately moved on to warn against overstating its potential. He noted the "difficult and delicate balance" between "sound science and moral values." He pledged that research supported by the federal government would be "both scientifically worthy and responsibly conducted" according to...