In my grandfather's lab, scientists did independent research, and peers reviewed and commented on its merits. Politics, he taught me, had no place in the scientific process.

When I first ran for Congress in 1998, people counted me out.

I had a serious childhood illness - sort of like spinal meningitis - that led to a three-month hospitalization. Afterward, I couldn't be insured because of a pre-existing condition.

All my life, the naysayers have told me that I can't win because I'm a progressive... because I'm a woman... even because I'm a lesbian.

It has been discovered that one of our scientists has fabricated data for use in scientific research. The results ... are based on false facts. This is very serious.

The National Academy of Sciences guidelines for stem cell research prohibits payment to egg donors, and scientists in the U.S. have embraced those principles. There is a right way and a wrong way, and we must be sure to perform this vitally important medical research the right way.