Stanford Report, June 21, 2006

Media monitor

"People feel they can ascribe greatness to themselves because it's inscribed in their genes." —Sandra Soo-Jin Lee, PhD, senior research scholar at the Stanford Center for Biomedical Ethics, on people using DNA to trace their lineage to famed ancestors, as did a man in Florida who recently used genetic testing to discover that he is a descendant of Genghis Khan. New York Times, June 11.

"It's a common problem for the people of that age group to fall through the cracks." —Michael Amylon, MD, professor of pediatrics at Lucile Packard Children's Hospital, on the shortage of support services for college-age students diagnosed with cancer. USA Today, June 12.

"I had never thought of alone as a problem. Medical school did not teach how to heal loneliness." —Larry Zaroff, MD, a senior research scholar at the Stanford Center for Biomedical Ethics, on his experience as a medical student at City Hospital in Washington, D.C., treating the maggot-infested wound of a homeless man but not being able to address his underlying condition. New York Times, June 13.

"We're not only surviving, we're thriving." —Mike Slabaugh on how he and his 10 cousins are feeling after having their stomachs removed because of their genetic predisposition to having gastric cancer. Slabaugh and six others had the surgery at Stanford. Associated Press, June 19.

"We aren't talking about an embryo with arms and legs." —Christopher Thomas Scott, executive director of the Program on Stem Cells and Society in the Stanford Center for Biomedical Ethics, on getting people to reach a better understanding on how embryos compare with fetuses. MSNBC.com, June 12.