Posted on 06/12/2005 8:29:34 PM PDT by murphE
Stem-cell pioneer Hwang Woo-suk and Korea’s top Catholic leader are likely to meet soon to discuss the controversial stem-cell research. ``Rev. Nicholas Cheong Jin-suk said that he wanted to meet Hwang in person to share his thoughts on the issue,’’ the Seoul Diocese said in a press release yesterday. The announcement came just after Hwang’s remark on the same day expressing his willingness to meet Catholic leaders. The meeting is expected to bridge the gap between the two parties, as the Catholic circle has condemned Hwang’s stem-cell research, labeling it as ``life-taking activities.’’
``We will prepare for the meeting between the two sides as soon as Hwang comes back from the United States,’’ the diocese said in the statement. Hwang is currently in Houston to participate in the Stem Cell Policy and Advocacy Summit.
In an interview with the Yonhap News Agency on Sunday, Hwang said that he is willing to meet with religious leaders seeking a better understanding of his controversial research. ``If necessary, I will meet them in person and learn from them,’’ Hwang said earlier.
``There is no reason why I shouldn’t meet them and communicate with them. This is a step we have to go through in the process of our research,’’ he added.
While explaining his research results during the summit, Hwang emphasized that cloning and his embryonic stem-cell research should be distinguished from each other since there is no possibility for an artificially cultivated stem-cell to become implanted in a uterus and become a life. He also pointed out that Catholic countries such as Spain and Brazil actively promote stem-sell research.
On Saturday, Cheong issued a statement and suggested that ``Professor Hwang's work carries serious repercussions, because it hurts life even if it is to find cures for incurable diseases.’’
Cheong's statement conforms to the Vatican's position. In South Korea, Roman Catholics account for about 5 percent of its population of 48 million.
As Cheong’s statement caused a heated debate on the Internet with the majority opposing it, the Seoul Diocese released another statement on late Saturday that it is not against stem-cell research itself, but just embryonic stem-cell research. It claimed the media’s report that the Korean Catholic community is totally against Hwang’s research is not true. The statement also suggested that adult stem-cell research could be an alternative to embryonic stem-cell research.
Hwang made international headlines last year by creating the world's first cloned human embryos. He followed this by announcing in May that his team had produced embryonic stem cells that genetically match injured or sick people, a potential breakthrough in the gene-based treatment of diseases.
Meanwhile, a public poll jointly conducted by the Ministry of Science and Technology and the Center for Functional Analysis of Genome showed that the majority of South Koreans are in favor of providing and using human ovum for biotech research. Thursday’s survey of 1,000 men and women aged over 20 showed that 57.7 percent supported the use of ovum to further bioscience. No margin of error was given.
ping
Coleus,Hwang Woo-suk .It is always nice to talk.Did not read.
Maybe he'll be converted.
Coleus,We both know how to beg for life and talking is good.
Maybe he'll be converted. >>
Maybe, with prayer and fasting on our part
It couldn't hurt. Maybe that bishop will consecrate him to the Immaculate Heart.
I will read the whole tom. many lurkers will pray and fast.I can pray but not fast as I do that everyday.
"Thursday’s survey of 1,000 men and women aged over 20 showed that 57.7 percent supported the use of ovum to further bioscience." Note please the obfuscatory use of 'ovum' for research (should have used the plural--ova-- since this avenue will require hundreds of thousands of human ova for conceptions). They dare not tell the whole truth, that the ova are used to conceive new human lives that are then slaughtered for their body parts, their stem cells. The dehumanization is a given, an assumed an axiom to their perspective, as it were.
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