stem cell research can be performed without touching embryos, eggs, sperm, altered embryos, etc..
amniotic fluid, umbilical cords, brown fat, adult stem cells all could potentially yield a viable line of stem cells that could then be coaxed into growing into other transplantable tissues.
i dont understand why we waste so much time and energy on this issue, i guess people just love a good arguement
Ah...I see you put yourself and view yourself as a 'Galileo'.
When the INSANE are running the ASYLUM In individuals, insanity is rare; but in groups, parties, nations and epochs, it is the rule. -- Friedrich Nietzsche
“How fortunate for those in power that people never think.” Adolph Hitler
Dr Cicero- your reply is another good example of the general public talking as if they know what they are talking about- but maybe you could clarify a couple of the different procedures for cell extraction to me-
One technique, involves the removal of a single cell from an embryo, similar to the technique used for pre-implantation genetic diagnosis of human embryos. Stem cells are then extracted from the isolated cell, and the biopsied embryo is allowed to develop normally.
The other technique -- a variant of somatic cell nuclear transfer, or "therapeutic cloning" -- involves extraction of stem cells from embryos that are incapable of being implanted in a uterus, and are thus not potential human life-
You can use all the fancy wording you want, in each technique you use an embryo. Or FERTALIZED EGG or LIFE.
Who determines that an egg is implantable in a uterus???
The general public know what an embryo is. This isn't a world is flat against the the world is round debate.
em⋅bry⋅o /ˈɛmbriˌoʊ/ Show Spelled Pronunciation [em-bree-oh] Show IPA noun, plural -os, adjective –noun 1. the young of a viviparous animal, esp. of a mammal, in the early stages of development within the womb, in humans up to the end of the second month. Compare fetus. 2. Botany. the rudimentary plant usually contained in the seed. 3. any multicellular animal in a developmental stage preceding birth or hatching. 4. the beginning or rudimentary stage of anything: He charged that the party policy was socialism in embryo.
The recent decision by President Obama to remove restrictions on federal funding for embryonic stem cell research has rekindled debate on the morality of a procedure that destroys human embryos. What exactly is a human embryo? Is it a person? Should its rights be protected? Science has told us that the human embryo contains all the material necessary (DNA, chromosomes) to distinguish it as a unique human being, and not merely a clump of cells, as some say. With its natural development, the embryo develops into a fetus and finally a baby. Embryonic stem cell research raises a fundamental question: Should a society permit the destruction of human life even for a good purpose, i.e., possible cures for spinal injuries, Parkinson’s Disease and others? Who decides which is a good or sufficient reason? Is the good that which is acceptable to most people most of the time? Does it follow that any medical and scientific procedure is allowed if it can be shown to have a favorable outcome — or even the possibility of such? There are those who say you cannot prove the embryo is a human being, and this may be true. However, moral reasoning traditionally has held that in cases of uncertainty, one takes the safest route. The acceptance of embryonic stem cell research that inevitably destroys the embryo furthers the growing practice in our society that human life is dispensable. Some have termed this the “slippery slope.” The decision by President Obama has been praised by many as a victory of science over ideology. However what cannot be ignored is the moral question.
REV. DENNIS MURPHY Rotterdam Junction The writer is pastor of the Church of St. Margaret of Cortona.