America's Best

Who says there are no Einsteins anymore? When it comes to SCIENCE AND MEDICINE, the U.S. is blessed with galaxies of brilliant researchers who are the envy of the world

Cells and souls and science and promises. How does a politician balance such volatile substances? George W. Bush tried as he pondered the research spearheaded by one of America's pioneering scientists. Biologist James Thomson's wizardry with embryonic stem cells had not only raised hopes for a medical panacea but also set off the national debate on whether that potential public good provided the moral justification for the infusion of public money over the objection of many. Already, Thomson's personal balancing act--juggling scientific imperative and ethical caution, technical brilliance and moral quandary--had made him one of our choices for TIME's list of...

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