Michael Guillen

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Michael Guillen, (b. 1954) is an author, science journalist and educator, best known for controversy surrounding the bogus 'Clonaid' claims of human cloning from 2003 by the Raelians.

The Raelians are a heretical religious sect whose beliefs espouse that humans are genetically engineered by ancient extraterrestrials (the 'Elohim'); that humans need to (and can) clone themselves to become immortal; and that immortality is gained by transfer of thoughts from the human to the clone as a living 'time capsule'. Said belief system has no basis in objective fact.

Guillen was born in East Los Angeles, earned his B.S. from UCLA and his Ph.D. from Cornell University in physics. At Cornell, commensurate with the 'Sagan era' Guillen founded the 'Leonardo Da Vinci Society', a short-lived forum for broader perspectives in the sciences and humanities. Shortly thereafter, Guillen went into science journalism and science writing (trade), and was a science correspondent for a Boston area television station WCVB (ABC affiliate). Dr. Guillen was noted for his balanced and informative coverage of the Challenger space shuttle disaster in that period.

Over the years, Dr. Guillen has written hundreds of articles for numerous publications, including Science News and Psychology Today magazines and The New York Times and Washington Post. For fourteen years, he was the Emmy-award-winning Science Correspondent for ABC News. He appeared regularly on Good Morning America, 20/20, Nightline, and World News Tonight. For eight years he was a physics instructor at Harvard University. In 2000, he was elected to the Explorers Club.

Although Guillen had consistently brought a perspective to the public that emphasized critical thinking and discouraged faith over fact, he often chose topics that were outside the mainstream of scientific endeavour. Noted magician and debunker James Randi has been especially public in criticizing Guillen's reporting of pseudoscience topics.

In 2003, it was revealed that he was acting as a scientific advisor to Clonaid, a group funded by the Raelian religion,that claimed the first cloning of a human being. However, when the Clonaid group failed to allow scientific scrutiny to confirm the claim, Guillen was made an alleged scapegoat for the criticism that accompanied the apparent fraud. Many scientists, including Ph.D. physicist Robert Parks, blamed Guillen for not being more critical and skeptical at earlier stages.

To date, there is no evidence that a human has been cloned.

In 1997, Guillen was awarded a "Pigasus" Award: "the gold standard of impossibility for…indiscriminate promotion of pseudoscience and quackery” for an alleged absence of skepticism in the reporting of pseudoscience (see 'External Reference'). After the Raelian fraud, Time Magazine asked:'Can we Trust the Cloning Journalist'?, asserting that Guillen was not a skeptical observer.

Dr. Guillen is the author of two books for the general public about mathematics: "Bridges to Infinity" and "Five Equations That Changed the World : The Power and Poetry of Mathematics". In his latest book "Can a Smart Person Believe in God?", Dr. Guillen tells of his lifelong attempt to reconcile his scientific career with his deeply religious upbringing. In it he uses the term SQ, which stands for Spiritual Quotient - the spiritual counterpart to IQ. Dr. Guillen believes that only when we use both our IQ and SQ do we perceive ourselves, others, and the universe in their full, multi-dimensional splendor.

Dr. Guillen is the president of Spectacular Science Productions. He is also the host of Where Did It Come From? ... a weekly, one-hour, prime-time series for The History Channel. The series debuted in the Summer 2006 season and is also available on DVD.

Dr. Guillen is also the Chief Consultant for Science and Religion for the Crystal Cathedral Ministries, which includes the Hour of Power television show, and Chief Science Advisor for the Central Committee of American Rabbis. He lives in Petersham, Massachusetts with his wife, Laurel, seven-year-old son, and black Labrador retriever.

[edit] External links

• Michael Guillen web site, with interesting descriptions of new TV series 'Where Did it Come From'? [1]
• Cult News reporting of Raelians and Michael Guillen[2]
• Time Magazine piece on Michael Guillen [3]
• BBC coverage of Raelian cloning fraud, and Michael Guillen[4]
• Beliefnet article: 'Is Michael Guillen a Flake?'[5]
• CBN Piece:'Can Faith and Logic Co-Exist?'[6]