Hungry for Stem Cells, and Tenure

You can't say the man doesn't deliver on a promise. MIT's Associate Professor of Biological Engineering James Sherley has started the hunger strike he announced before Christmas. He stated February 5 as the start date, and the Herald reports that he's begun his quest today. A hunger strike is an unhealthy way to take off some of the holiday pounds, soon we'll find out if it will be the fast way to tenure track at MIT.

Sherley's hunger strike commenced today outside the office of MIT provost L. Rafael Reif. The Herald reports on his less than spectacular last meal

Sherley stuck to his word. After eating two bowls of Chex cereal for breakfast, he stood outside Reif’s office for several hours Monday morning in a peaceful protest, accompanied by about 25 friends and supporters.

He's not going without water or research though. He'll spend three hours a day protesting outside the provost's office and follow it with research in his lab – proving he's committed to the academics. His view on stem cell research is somewhat controversial. His research employs only adult stem cells and opposes suing embryonic stem cells because he believes it to be taking a human life to destroy the embryo.

It seemed as though he was setting pretty stringent conditions for the end of his hunger strike when it was announced in December. He's now changed the tone a little bit – gunning less for tenure and overturning of previous decisions and more for "significant change" in the ethos of race relations at MIT. Sherley believes that the reason he was denied tenure was because of his race. He'll be satisfied if MIT admits they were wrong and employed racism in their decision making. Perhaps it's a political move on his part as it's pretty clear he's not going to get tenure, even with a hunger strike, so it might be best he adjusts his message and demands a bit.

Photo of James Sherley courtesy of MIT News Office