Scientists Claim Organs Grown From Stem Cells

Llywelyn writes: "It appears that some scientists in the United States are claiming that they have been able to grow functional organs (kidneys) from cloned cow embryotic stem cells. They have not yet released details on how exactly they did this, nor have they yet provided evidence for their claims, but admit to being only in the `proof of concept' phase in research. I guess we'll see down the road if this is legit or the increasingly common `Science by Press Release.'"

Comments

My guess

[Em Emalb]

"I guess we'll see down the road if this is legit or the increasingly common `Science by Press Release."

After consulting the magic 8 ball, I have to say the latter is probably true.

I would guess that money got a little tight and this is a good way to get more cash for research...

Or, could be I am tired of hearing about companies that make claims with no proof.

ATC

[Vireo]

The news come from ATC, the same company that pretended having cloned a human in november. However, these claims were probably premature. We should be skeptical about this kidney thing... publishing fist in New Scientist is not exactly standard for serious scientific results.

Scientific Method always wins out

[Dark Paladin]

Back in the day, people believed in the 4 elements of earth, air, fire, and water. Why? Well, because somebody said so.

They believed that frogs came from mud, that life just arrived, that the sun went around the earth, and many other things.

Then the Scientific Method came along, and it was a simple idea:

1. Conduct an experiment with two groups, and only change 1 thing in each group.
2. Compare the results. If the majority of the groups with the different variable are truly different, you can possibly attribute that result to your variable.
3. Publish your results and show the world exactly what steps you took.
4. Other people recreate your experiment. If they get the same conclusions, then your theory may be correct.
5. If others find a different way to prove/disprove your theory, then eventually the Truth can be decided.

In the end, that's what science and the scientific method are all about. The search for the Truth. Is it the only method? Probably not - there are many truths in the universe we can't prove under the microscope.

But is it the best way that fallible humans can use to attain Truth? So far, yup. And as long as the real scientists don't forget that, we don't have to worry about "science by press release".