Editorial: "Whose stem cells are they anyway?"
THIS article began life last September, when an accusatory email landed in my inbox. It had come from SammyJo Wilkinson, a former internet entrepreneur in her late 40s, who lives in Seattle with her husband. Two decades after being diagnosed with multiple sclerosis, Wilkinson (pictured), is fighting a medical establishment that she reckons is thwarting her only chance of an effective therapy.
"We have a right to obtain these treatments and pieces like yours, that lack balance, will reduce our access," she wrote. "Your pieces are all written from the perspective of scientists with financial conflicts of interest."
The email left me a little piqued, I must admit, but also intrigued. I'm used to the idea that scientists aren't all angels, having reported on research misconduct in the past, from image doctoring to wholesale data fabrication. Still, I didn't recognise this picture ...
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