Jeb Bush, Scientist

Kristen Philipkoski is a great Wired magazine writer, and reports from the Biotechnology Industry Organization meeting (now easily the most important meeting in biotechnology) that Florida Gov. Bush has decided to give loads of credence to our favorite neo-con William Hurlbut's bogus theory that embryonic stem cells can be derived from what the right-to-life folks have described as "handicapped embryos." We've written at such great length here about how mind-boggling this theory is - and noted that it went down in flames in Massachusetts after being embraced by Mitt Romney there.

But Wired magazine has something invested in Hurlbut, having published what amounts to a puff piece about him last month, and in so doing having essentially been suckered into what is becoming a hillarious snake oil road show, orchestrated by Hurlbut, but gaining momentum as it acquires signatures - a bit like Jeremy Rifkin's zillion signature petition in the late 1990s against gene patenting, in that it is being signed by folks who will later realize what they are signing and come to regret it. The best evidence of this of course is the fact that no significant stem cell researcher will give Hurlbut the time of day, nor have any senior scientists said anything about the Hurlbut proposal other than "who is that guy, again?"

In any event, Bush, who lends considerable expertise in bioethics, particularly in end of life issues, opines that Hurlbut is the "bright person" who can solve the big ethics problem about stem cell research:

"I think taking of human life to create life is a huge contradiction morally," Bush said. "But ... there are other really bright people in this issue who share that view who are trying to find an alternative that would not retard the advancement of science."