Stem Cells Strike Back! (moral, America, moral, diseases)

[Ryan2065]

http://www.forbes.com/forbeslife/hea...out534536.html

In what could prove to be a medical milestone, researchers have succeeded in generating new lines of human embryonic stem cells without destroying the embryo.The breakthrough may enable scientists to circumvent the ban on federal funding of stem cell research, paving the way for gains in treating or curing diseases such as diabetes, spinal injury and Alzheimer's disease.

So now we can apparently get the stem cells from the embryo without destroying the embryo. So two questions...

1. Think this will make the politicans change their minds about federal funding?

2. Do you think it is morally wrong to take stem cells from an embryo without destroying it?

**Edit** Possibly move this to the political debate section, there is a religious debate on the stem cell research already =)

[michel]

*Moved to politics*

Another source cites:- http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/ap/fn/4136733.html

Some opponents of the research said the method still doesn't satisfy their objections and many stem cell scientists and their supporters called it inefficient and politically wrong-headed.

Now, I know little of American politics, but that sounds very much like burrying one's head in the sand...............

[Torgo]

I doubt this will change anything with politicians. Scientific illiteracy is rampant in their ranks.

I read about this technique a while ago and I have been shocked that it has not recieved more press. I want to go into genetic research and know a good deal about the promise and problems with embryonic stem cells, but I cannot understand how people condone killing embryos to obtain them. If they must be obtained, than this is the only acceptable way. The lesser of two evils.

What is even more promising is the possibility of generating stem cells without the involvement of embryos at any point. There have been experiments which involved injecting the cytoplasm from an ES cell from one of the pre-made lines into a normal body cell, which reverted to an ES-cell-like state. This suggests that there are proteins in the cytoplasm which can "reprogram" the cell. If we could determine which proteins were required, and put the genes in bacteria to mass produce them, we could make as many ES cell lines as we wanted with no embryos needed. THAT would be a solution EVERYONE could live with.