With Jeffrey Botkin appointed as the Chair of the Working Group for Human Embryonic Stem Cell Eligibility Review, can anyone be surprised that the committee is also comprised of two other card-carrying bioethicists: Dena S. Davis and Bernard Lo?

This, in my view, is something to herald for the committee–and ethics committee for certain, but it was by no means a lock that so many obviously “bioethics” folk would be part of the committee.

While some may quibble as to which bioethicists are on the panel or some may say there are even too few, I think that what is most notable is that it is chaired by someone who is so obviously among the bioethics flock. What will this mean for the quality of the review, time will only tell, but it certainly means that ethics will be at the forefront and values questions will certainly be at the center of the debate.

Comments, anyone?

Summer Johnson, PhD