Cover Letter/ Reflection of my controversy paper

I really dived into this paper during dead week and was able to produce something I'm satisfied with turning in. By far the hardest part of the paper was translating the development of iPS cells from the speech given by Shinya Yamanaka at the Gairdner Awards. When I reference the general public and esoteric language I was the general public that was trying to understand how iPS cells were first developed. Having to rely on a video for Yamanaka's speech instead of correspondence I had to keep a finger on the pause and replay button to translate what was being said into the language of my paper. After I got done with the narrative of Yamanaka's speech I could finally refer to the course materials and readings to build up and provide support for the iPS controversy. I knew in selecting this paper topic it would be impossible to leave out embryonic stem cell research while characterizing the controversy of iPS cells. So what I did was try to discuss Science-in-the-Making in iPS cell discovery and then frame it into the context of stem cell research as a whole. Building on Latour's Janus dictum I tried to frame the two different types of stem cell technology as "ethical" and "unethical" science technology in order to characterize the debate (or course putting them in scare quotes to try and remain neutral). The events chosen in the timeline section of the paper were chosen to fit a storyline I was framing in the paper. The actors I chose to discuss highlights the complex web of political, scientific, and nonhuman actors involved in stem cell research.
Overall I feel this was a rewarding project, I learned more about iPS cells and biotechnology than I would have without an opportunity to write this paper. I actually had never heard of iPS cells before I picked this topic. As I investigated the small differences in government policy among presidential administrations over stem cell research it becomes almost comical now to hear an "anti-science" stance taken by President Bush. The reality of a politico-scientific world is pretty daunting to think about its implications for the future. Similar to the B of the Bang's summary of their controversy I provided further questions to keep in mind while tracking the controversy post-paper. So much is built up around Shinya Yamanaka it will be interesting to see if he will keep carrying the iPS cell torch to a more ethical future in stem cell research. Because of this paper I think I will be much more interested in stumbling across iPS related articles as this technology continues to develop.