President's
Council on Bioethics
The following
is the text of a letter sent to
the editors of The Washington
Post and The New York Times in
response to Dr. Elizabeth
Blackburn's removal from
President Bush's Council on
Bioethics.
To the Editor (of
the Washington Post and the New
York Times),
As geneticists and
concerned citizens, we protest
the dismissal of Dr. Elizabeth
Blackburn from President Bush's
Council on Bioethics (Washington
Post, Saturday, Feb. 28, page
A6; New York Times, Thursday,
March 4, page A18). Dr.
Blackburn is a geneticist with
impeccable credentials who has
contributed very substantially
to our understanding of the
molecular basis of chromosome
structure, inheritance and
cellular aging. A professor at
the University of California at
San Francisco, she has been
President of the American
Society of Cell Biology and is a
member of the National Academy
of the Sciences. Her removal by
the Administration represents
the loss from the Council of a
well-reasoned voice supporting
both scientific rigor and moral
values. She has emphasized the
need for research with embryonic
stem cells because of the great
promise for tissue regeneration
that they offer. We suspect that
her views on this subject led to
her dismissal.
An informed
dialogue about bioethics
requires a discussion of basic
biology and genetics. The
dismissal of Dr. Blackburn
diminishes the scientific
expertise necessary for a
complete, rational debate on the
critical issues about which the
Council on Bioethics is charged
to inform the President and the
public. The three new members of
the panel (Dr. Benjamin Carson,
Dr. Peter Lawler, and Dr. Diana
Schaub) do not replace the
scientific expertise of Dr.
Blackburn. This unexpected
dismissal, which came late on a
Friday afternoon, gives the
appearance of stifling a voice
not following the
Administration's desires. We
feel that the explanation given
by the Chairman of the Council
Dr. Leon Kass (Washington Post,
Wednesday, March 3, page A25),
in response to criticism for her
removal, was inadequate. In
addition, Dr. Kass did not
explain why she was not replaced
by a geneticist or other basic
scientist of comparable
stature.
Mark Johnston,
Ph.D
Thomas D. Petes, Ph.D.
Gerald R. Smith, Ph.D.
The first and
second authors are the present
and past presidents of the
Genetics Society of America, and
the third author is a member of
the GSA Board of Directors.
Dr.
Blackburn's Op Ed article in The
Washington Post,
which reflects on her service to
the President's Council on
Bioethics, was written following
her dismissal. (Note: You can
see a preview of the article for
free, but there is a $2.95
charge if you want to see the
entire article at The Washington
Post Web site.) |