New Year New Developments

I start this latest entry with an apology for the break in posts that has come over the last few weeks. Along with many people in the UK, I have been ill with flu. Not the greatest time of the year to be ill what with all the festive gatherings of family and friends, however I was determined to squeeze one more nano-sized blog post out before seeing in the New Year.

In recent posts I have discussed current news that concerns science and concerns science. This time I thought I would update my blog with an entry suitable for the time of year; religion, science and looking forward.

Science and religion have never bumped along well. (Think dark ages to name the best example of conflict.) One could consider them as two opposite sides of the same coin. I am of the opinion though that for both science and mankind to continue to progress and develop then religion (or should that be religious decision makers) have a role to play. The best example of this has been in the legal wrangling in America over the use of stem cells in research. Through the George Bush administration years of progress were arguably lost due to fundamental religious belief. The denial of this research is to deny many of the potential for cure from numerous diseases. This is not something I can condone. It was with the inauguration of Barack Obama that science, in this case stem cell research, can begin once again to progress and look forward.

2011 could herald a huge step forward. 12 people are due to undergo injection of retinal cells derived from human embryonic stem cells to cure a progressive cause of blindness. That’s right curing blindness. And if that wasn’t enough, 10 people are due to have spinal injections of stem cell derived cells in an attempt to cure their paralysis. Making blind people see and those paralysed able to walk – this sounds a fantastic development in science to me – verging on miraculous on a biblical scale for the religious among you.

This blog update could never possibly go into all the arguments between science and religion much as I would never want to. This update merely aims to voice my opinion on how for new technologies to progress for the benefit of the human race, there need to be concessions. Maybe on both sides. Having said that, many in one group will almost certainly find more scientific progress and more evidence harder and harder to swallow.

And finally...

Thank you all for reading my blog over the last couple of months, I’ve been successfully gaining views from over 12 countries. America, South Korea, France, Spain, India, Russia, Serbia, Germany and more. Wherever you are I wish you all the best for the coming year 2011... if of course you follow the Gregorian calendar.