Stem Cell Boot Camp, Spring 2006

As savvy journalists know, several fields of human endeavor are joining -- or more often, colliding -- on the fast-moving frontier of medical research and treatment using human embryonic stem cells. Sometimes it seems that to cover this well, you need to be not just a science or medical writer, but a religion writer, a specialist in law and the courts, and a political writer.

 

To help journalists make sense of it all, MIT's Knight Science Journalism Fellowships is joining forces with the Harvard Stem Cell Institute to offer a short course in stem cells --  from the basic science to the legal and ethical issues.

 

Boot camp will be intensive. You'll be in a lecture room or lab all day every day. Some sessions will be at Harvard and some at MIT, including its affiliated Whitehead Institute. By the end of the week you'll understand the science and the broader issues of stem cell research.You'll be inoculated against the hype, but you'll also have a solid understanding of why there is real hope in this field.