THE DORK REPORT: Religious zealots threaten scientific progress
Alaric DeArment
December 12, 2005
According to a Nov. 30 editorial in the Minneapolis Star Tribune, we're about to lose two of the best geneticists in the world.
Former Cancer Institute scientists Neal Copeland and Nancy Jenkins originally planned to move to Stanford University and take advantage of $3 billion the state of California recently approved for stem cell research and the search for a cure for cancer. But anti-abortion groups have filed lawsuits that prevent the release of those funds. Thus, Copeland and Jenkins have decided to wave goodbye to America and work for the Institute of Molecular and Cell Biology in Singapore, the article said.
This is what we get for letting religious zealots dictate science policy. While we once led the world in scientific research and development, we are losing the position - and now even the scientists themselves - to Europe and Asia.
One of the most telling examples of this is the current "controversy" concerning Intelligent Design. No controversy exists - biologists, geneticists, anthropologists and other scientists who specialize in evolution are not sitting in greasy spoon restaurants and debating ID over coffee and cigarettes.
To put it simply, ID is not scientific
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