A side note on the post below: The only reason we know that bone marrow stem cells might one day be able to be used as a treatment for Alzheimer’s is due to animal experimentation. In this particular case, mice were genetically altered, they were caused to have Alzheimer’s disease, they were then treated with the stem cells, and finally, they were euthanized and dissected to see how and whether the experiment worked. Without using living organisms, this research simply could not have progressed. In other words, cell lines and computer models would have been inadequate. Indeed, if this research continues to progress, it may have to be used in monkeys or primates that have a closer genome to humans before use in human subjects. (Either that, or use disabled humans as some animal rights fanatics like Peter Singer have espoused.)
This is the real world: Animal experimentation is essential to scientific progress. It is as simple as that.
Dear Reader,
Can I be direct with you?
War abroad. Socialists on the rise. AI upending human life. Endless uproar online. The modern attention economy doesn’t want readers — it wants users enslaved to the tyranny of the present.
First Things is the antidote: literary excellence, timeless truths, and a fixed point of reference in a culture that has lost its bearings.
But we can’t do it without readers like you.
Our goal: Raise $150,000 by November 1 to sustain First Things in the year ahead.
Your gift anchors readers in the permanent things.
Make your Fall Campaign gift now using the button below.
If you have any questions or would like more information, please contact Giovanni Del Piero, Director of the Editor’s Circle, at gdelpiero@firstthings.com or 212-627-1985.
YOU MIGHT ALSO LIKE
The Church in the Age of Therapy
In 1966, Philip Rieff wrote in The Triumph of the Therapeutic that “Religious man was born to…
Canada’s Deadliest Blind Spot
On September 20, the Daily Mail ran a story with the provocative headline, “Our 83-year-old Christian grandmother…
The Faithful Joy of Dolly Parton and Fulton Sheen
Dolly Parton and Fulton Sheen seem to have had little in common. She favored rhinestones; he wore…
