Free Republic

Have we found the ultimate stem cell? One that can deliver all the benefits of embryonic stem cells without having to destroy a potential human life to save an existing one? It's too early to tell, say stem cell researchers. While they are excited about the potential of an adult stem cell like Verfaillie's, most insist that research with embryonic stem cells must continue, because nobody can possibly know right now which option is better. And it might be worth it for more than one reason, says Arthur Caplan, director of the Center for Bioethics at the University of Pennsylvania....

“How can you side with those people?” In 2002, a paralyzed research advocate who actively supports embryonic-stem-cell and human-cloning research asked me this question. By “those” people she meant Christians, conservatives, and pro-life groups.  “It’s simple,” I said. “Why is it in our interest to sit in these wheelchairs for the rest of our lives so science can puzzle over safety problems linked to embryonic stem cells and human cloning, while ignoring the cells that nature designed for the treatments we need?” In the discussion that followed I explained why embryonic stem cells (ESCs) are inferior to adult stem...

A scandal has erupted in South Korea over human-cloning researcher Woo Suk Hwang, bringing into sharp relief some questions about the “therapeutic cloning” agenda that have been ignored for too long. In February 2004, scientific colleagues hailed Dr. Hwang as the first researcher to prove he had used the “somatic-cell-nuclear-transfer” technique (the same technique used to clone “Dolly” the sheep) to create cloned human embryos. That first effort, starting with 242 human eggs donated by 16 women, produced 30 embryos that survived to the “blastocyst” (one-week old) stage, and yielded just one embryonic-stem-cell line. By May 2005 he had improved...

Life Issues Forum Farming Humans for Fun and Profitby Richard M. DoerflingerJanuary 20, 2004 "Farming” fetuses for body parts. Human/animal hybrids. Putting unborn humans in animal wombs. Buying and selling human embryos. Patenting human beings. Chapter headings for a science-fiction potboiler? No. Just a typical day at the office for members of the President’s Council on Bioethics. On January 16, The President’s Council released a draft report that deserves attention from all Americans concerned about the use and abuse of science. Its title, “Biotechnology and Public Policy: Biotechnologies Affecting the Beginnings of Human Life,” is far from exciting; but its...