Stem Cells Get Ethical
A new process has made it possible to turn skin cells into stem cells, obviating the need for human embryos for stem cell research. It is not fully perfected yet, but will almost certainly provide stem cell researchers with “ethical” material in abundance. These new stem cells are potentially much better than embryonic ones, because the DNA will match the DNA of the donor, making them far more compatible.
The stem cell issue has been a contentious one, with scientists accusing “religious fanatics” of shutting down valid, possibly life-saving research. While there are valid religious reasons, such as sanctity of life issues, to view embryonic stem cells research with distaste, to my mind most researchers seemed to have overlooked an obvious ethical issue, unrelated to religion.
The biggest problem, as I see it, was that the source of almost all embryos was the abortion and IVF clinics. It was the cosy “one stop shop” approach to stem cell procurement that concerned me. Abortion clinics had a serious conflict of interest as they benefited from abortion because they had a lucrative embryo selling business on the side. It is dubious that they could truly represent a woman’s interests and there were many tales of women being persuaded to abort and pressurized into not considering alternatives. IVF clinics had a similar conflict of interest in that they had control over the number of embryos extracted and the number implanted, creating a very convenient surplus.
Now, I am not saying that all abortion clinics and IVF clinics acted unethically, I am merely pointing out the massive ethical conflict of interest. When one is dealing with human tissue, one needs to ensure that the ethics involved are pristine and not tainted by possible collusion.
I see the new stem cell process as a justification of the much-maligned religious “right” standing up for what they believed in and a vindication of the taking of a proper ethical stance. It is unlikely that this research would have produced these results so soon, or, indeed at all, if researchers could have accessed embryos. The process is more expensive and time consuming and would certainly have been placed on the back-burner for another day. How could they have competed financially against the veritable holocaust of embryos available from America’s abortion clinics?
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Mar 4 09 4:23 pm
Embryonic stem cells need to come from blastocysts, not much of your “veritable holocaust” is ~4 days old. Foetal cells are more like adult stem cells than ESCs.
You are right, David. My apologies for the sloppy phrasing.
Mar 4 09 4:35 pm
This is fantastic news. Another thing I couldn’t stand about the way those of us with a regard to ethics and a consistent life ethic were slated over this issue was that we were “anti-stem cell research” and “anti-science/medical progress” because we had an ethical concern over issues like you have highlighted.
I have always been pro-science, pro-medical advancement and pro-stem cell research, I just had an issue with the stem-cell research that required life to be taken to be developed – stem cells from umbilical cords, from placentas – were far less contentious but of course more difficult to obtain.
Mar 4 09 10:28 pm
MacDoctor , read the post and for some reason it knew this would appeal.
SCIENTISTS TO CONTINUE EMBRYO STEM-CELL RESEARCH PURELY TO ANNOY CHRISTIANS
http://www.thedailymash.co.uk/news/science-%26-technology/scientists-to-continue-embryo-stem%11cell-research-purely-to-annoy-christians-200903031615/
“I did not spend eight years at university just to adopt research methods that do not annoy the holy living shit out of the Jesus freaks.”
Nice to see someone refreshingly direct about their motivations.