I know there are a lot of examples where stem cells have been over-sensationalised, but can anyone offer any good examples of this?
Do you think that patients' hopes are raised by stem cells in the media?
What effects does this have?
Can this be linked to why some people decide to seek unproven stem cell therapies by shady companies; they think that they must be able to cure because they are stem cells?
Dear Charlotte,
I believe that what is happening now with stem cells (public thinking) is similar to what happened 20 years ago with cancer. The NCI was supposed to END cancer, and now they have been asked for the reasons it has not been ended, and their funding dramatically decreased. With stem cells I feel something similar si happening, the press many times takes flashy titles that have little or nothing to do with the real findings of relevant manuscripts and try to sell it as the panacea. I do think that they can be very useful, but iPS cannot be used if generated with retro or lentiviruses, on the mouse is very easy to reconstitute a mammary gland with mammary stem cells (we even do it with different fluorescent colors), but it is not possible to reconstitute a mammary gland from a woman that had undergone surgery from a mammary tumor since we do not have markers that would allow us to distinguish between the normal and the cancer stem cells....
I believe that US as scientists should be extremely careful on press releases, interviews and discussions with the press.
I hope this was of some help
best
Jose A.
Hi Jose,
Thanks for your answer. I was just wondering, do you think that this sensationalism has any adverse affects on the patient's seeking medical cures or the medical industry itself? Such as pressure on scientists.
Do you think that sometimes the scientist is to blame? for not being careful when they talk to the press?
Hi Charlotte
lets think like a loop. first everything starts from a laboratory. some scientists gain some results and interpret it as they wish. then this is the scientist who feeds the media. one who is working for the press is not a professional scientist themselves. they are simply very professional narrators who know how to dig into the story in a way that they do some business. sometimes topped up with exaggeration, not saying that they lie but a bit of stretching the story. then the story appears on the TV,newspaper and ... then the third party (regular people) reads the story dreaming of having their heart or liver or... replaced with a new one in near future. I don't put all the blame on the scientists,media or people but rather i think each party has to be very careful what they say, what they narrate and what they read.
Charlotte, are you doing a project on stem cell work and public perception ? If you do, please disclose, cheers Michael
Hi Michael,
I am doing my third year university project (for my print journalism course) where I have to carry out a lot of research to present in an essay and write a 3,000 word feature. my topic is on the idea that stem cells can be used to cure age-related macular degeneration, as this has been reported on in the news recently. for the feature, I have spoken to 6 patients with the condition to find out what it is like to live with it and how it has affected their lives. I have also interviewed a macular specialist and a stem cell researcher and will be speaking to a pharmacologist soon. for the essay I want to look at all the issues that come up regarding stem cells, trialling new medicines, public perception etc. I am using researchgate in order to learn about the issues and gain some more professional opinions.
none of it has been written yet, I am still in the research phase.
Charlotte
On my experience the researchers are not to blame, even if you give the correct answer to a journalist, this can be twisted and appear as something else (my own experience, and it has happened repeatedly). I believe that part of the problem are the funding agencies and funding bodies that always ask you what will you solve with that project. I would have loved the question asked to Jim Watson and Francis Crick at the time.....
....unfortunately the answer to this question might turn into a funded grant o a grant that is not funded.
Something similar happens with scientific journals nowadays, either you have an application on humans, or a human cell line or primary tumor that does it, expresses it, or you have problems publishing a sound piece of data....
The scientists somehow are forced to play somehow this game.
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