Stem Cells and Ethics

Bah. What about plant and human DNA? Maybe I could synthesize coffee in my brain...

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It's good to see some public support for science, but many would liken it to parents who want to sell their children off for research. Thus, they would think the government does ethically have a right to intervene, just as the government does in the case of mistreated children.

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I disagree. I think a fertilized embryo is qualitatively different from a sperm cell, as a sperm cell is haploid. But, I think that a fertilized egg is only quantitatively different from a skin cell, liver cell or brain cell.

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Nobody knows how to define a person. But, I don't think you should choose a particular stance just because it is easy to define, but rather you should choose one that matches the feelings of morality that you have, and leads to the most acceptable conclusions. As Omnivorous (and others before him) have pointed out, there are unacceptable moral conclusions to your particular view.Consider the following scenario: I don't know about you, but to me the pain that the child will feel makes him by far the better choice to save. To me, the ability to think and feel is a much better indicator of humanness than simply possessing a set of unique human chromosomes.

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I agree with you, but I was merely pointing to the fact that a sperm or egg has a different genotype to the fertilized egg, whereas other somatic cells differ from that egg only in expression of that genotype.

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WEEEE! You're going round in circles.Consider that embryonic stem cells are heavily regulated and funding is limited. Because of this, the research in this area isn't producing any significant results. Because of this, you are arguing to keep the restrictions. Circular?Restrictions ’ Lack of results ’ Restrictions ’ Lack of results ’ Restrictions etc etc While I can see that adult stem cells could prove effective in terms of cures, there is one area that only embryonic research can help - human developmental biology. There are hundreds of developmental disorders (most of which affect only children, as they die before they reach adulthood) and, with the possible exception of psychiatric disorders, they are the most poorly understood of any conditions. And the sole reason for that is that we can't do research freely on human embryos. No amount of adult stem cell research can shed any light on this.Edited by Doddy, : clarify

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And is present in (almost) every cell of your body. Clearly, as there is no prohibition against killing those cells, then why should there be for others that have the same information? Uh-huh. But these cells in my body are in a formation that can feel pain, think and remember. Thus, even though they are just cells, they give rise to a self - something more than cellular processes. The only reason that your skin cells don't grow into a new person is because they have been prevented from doing so. Someone could indeed take a skin cell from you and, through SCNT (somatic cell nuclear transfer), actualise the genetic potential within them. That is how Dolly was born (albeit from a breast cell rather than a skin cell). So, if there is no prohibition against the killing of skin cells, why should there be against the killing of other cells which also have the potential to grow into a full person, if only someone would let them?

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