But does producing stem cells from blastomeres give us a chance to reach consensus on the ethics of embryonic stem cell research? Hardly.
Human embryonic stem cell lines have been generated without embryos being destroyed, according to researchers.
In the five years since President Bush authorized and at the same time restricted research on human embryonic stem cells, a marked shift has taken place in some scientists` views of how the research is likely to benefit medicine. Many no longer see cell therapy as the first goal of the research, parting company with those whose near-term expectations for cell therapy remain high.
Scientists have reacted with anger to US President George W Bush’s decision to veto a bill allowing federal funding for new embryonic stem cell research.
US President George W Bush is heading for a major clash with the Senate, and many in his own Republican party, over stem cell research.
Many scientists believe the Bush restrictions have severely limited the research on ES cells. That is why advocates for people with diseases and disabilities, including such luminaries as Christopher Reeve, Michael J. Fox and Nancy Reagan have argued forcefully to end the restrictions.
Scientists have proved for the first time that sperm grown from embryonic stem cells can be used to produce offspring.
Scientists have condemned a leading Catholic cardinal’s calls for those who carry out embryonic stem cell research to be excommunicated.
The issue of stem cell research — which is back before the Senate — is often described as a moral dilemma, but it simply is not. Or at least it is not the moral dilemma often used in media shorthand: the rights of the unborn vs. the needs of people suffering from diseases that embryonic stem cells might cure.
“VIRGIN-BIRTH” embryos have given rise to human embryonic stem cells capable of differentiating into neurons. The embryos were produced by parthenogenesis, a form of asexual reproduction in which eggs can develop into embryos without being fertilised by sperm.
