It sounds like Senators Alan Specter and Tom Harkin were fully bullying Robert Lanza at the senate subcommittee hearing yesterday, hence his unhappy characterizationof the event. The senators apparently interrupted him repeatedly and insinuated that he misrepresented his research.
Specter and Harkin are shooting themselves in the foot by using the religious right's own talking points to slam Lanza and ACT. Specter has survived a brain tumor and heart surgery, and since he was diagnosed in 2005 with Hodgkin's disease, he has been a patient advocate rallying for embryonic stem cell research funding. Now he's undermining one of the only companies willing to invest in this risky, early stage research.
From the Washington Post:
"It's a big black eye if scientists are making false and inaccurate representations," a combative Sen. Arlen Specter (R-Pa.) said during a hearing of the Senate Appropriations labor, health and human services subcommittee, which he chairs.
Robert Lanza of Advanced Cell Technology (ACT) in Worcester, Mass., defended his work and the company's statements. "Our paper is 100 percent correct," said the visibly shaken scientist, referring to the highly publicized article that appeared in the Aug. 24 issue of the journal Nature.
"You're on the ropes!" Specter retorted, capping one of several exchanges in which he and Sen. Tom Harkin (D-Iowa), a fellow advocate of stem cell research, repeatedly interrupted and scolded Lanza.
Senator Arlen Specter, R-Pennsylvania
