James Pinkerton: For Good or Ill, Science Will March On

The stem-cell debate grows increasingly angry as the science behind it gains momentum. Indeed, the science has a whole lot of momentum - four centuries' worth.

On May 24 the House of Representatives voted to lift federal limits on embryonic stem-cell research. But President George W. Bush vows to veto any bill that reaches his desk, and if so, it would be the first veto of his presidency. But the wind is at the back of the pro-stem cellers; a CBS poll shows 58 percent of Americans supporting embryonic stem-cell research.

Meanwhile, the states are rushing ahead. Last year California voted $3 billion for stem-cell research. This year Connecticut and Massachusetts have enacted their own state programs.

Now comes the big news from South Korea, where scientists have made a huge advance in cloning. In a nutshell, the enticing prospect - or, if one prefers, the evil nightmare - of "therapeutic cloning" is within reach....

...But what about morality? What about the sanctity of life? As Bush puts it, we must "balance ethics and science." True enough, but who does the balancing? Answer: lots of people, in lots of countries, with lots of different perspectives. As Santorum's fellow Pennsylvania Republican senator, Arlen Specter, observed, "The U.S. government can't control what goes on in South Korea, maybe not even California." The Baconian Grand Plan has gone worldwide.

The historian Thomas Carlyle held that Bacon could "converse with this universe, first-hand." That was true then, and it's true of scientists now. Bacon's vision of inevitable scientific progress still holds us in its thrall, like it or not.