SIX STEM CELL FACTS
The public discussion of human embryo research has too often lacked
intellectual honesty, which has only compounded the confusion of an
issue of great scientific and moral complexity, say Robert P. George
professor of jurisprudence at Princeton University and a member of
the President's Council on Bioethics and Rev. Thomas V. Berg,
executive director of the Westchester Institute for Ethics and the
Human Person.
Consequently, there are certain facts on which people on either side
of the moral debate should be able to agree, say George and
Berg. For example:
* There is no "ban" on human embryonic stem cell (ESC) research
in the United States; the federal government has funded such research
to the tune of $130 million dollars since 2001, and the United States
continues to be the international leader in the field.
* We are a long way away from therapies derived from embryonic
stem cells; many leading stem cell researchers have echoed the fact
that there may be no breakthrough any time soon.
* Standard embryology texts insist that from the zygote
(single-cell embryo) stage forward there exists a new living member
of the species homo sapiens that has the active potential to develop
by an internally directed process towards maturity.
Also:
* There are non-controversial alternatives worth exploring; such
as the reprogramming of ordinary somatic (body) cells, the derivation
of stem cells from amniotic fluid, and (assuming that it can be shown
that the product is not an embryo), altered nuclear transfer.
* Concerns about embryo destruction are not only religious; but
merely a healthy respect for the human capacity for doing evil in
pursuit of the good.
* The search for cures is not the only motive behind ESC
research,; many scientists are interested only in enhancing basic
scientific knowledge of such things as cell signaling, tissue growth
and early human development.
Source: Robert P. George and Thomas V. Berg, "Six Stem Cell Facts,"
Wall Street Journal, March 14, 2007.
For text:
<http://online.wsj.com/article/SB117384191108736444.html>http://online.wsj.com/article/SB117384191108736444.html
- [QUAD-L] Six Stem Cell Facts Jim Lubin
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