Progress comes at a price

I hate people who argue that we shouldn't do Embryonic Stem Cell Research because it's unpromising. It's the lamest excuse in the book, because at the start of research, by definition, you won't know what you will come up with at the end. Plus, much truly groundbreaking research is dangerous.

I would compare Embryonic Stem Cell Research to flying at the start. Many early wannabe pilots died when their 'aircraft' crashed. The most famous is Otto Lilienthal, whose famous quote "sacrifices must be made" was all too prophetic of his own death due to a glider accident. The first passenger in an airplane died (Signal Corps Lieutenant Thomas Selfridge). I can't find statistics on early pilots trying to cross the Atlantic, but many died in the attempt before Lindberg successfully made history. And the US Air Mail had a horrendous survival rate during it's first years of operation.

Plus, we learned how flight crews were unable to work together effectively to the Tenerife disaster at the cost of 583 deaths. UAL 232 is a testament to CRM in that 184 people survived on a flight that should have ended up as a smoking hole in some cornfield.

Today, the most dangerous part of aviation is the drive to the airport. The deaths of yesterday make flying very safe because we learned from our mistakes and have improved safety.