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Human Based Stem Cell Culture Medium Developed
ubersonic writes "A new culture medium for growing human stem cells -- that contains no animal products -- is offering researchers a cleaner and therefore safer environment for performing the cutting-edge technology.
The discovery means that stem cells developed for therapeutic use can be transferred directly to human subjects. By using this medium all of the concerns about contaminating proteins in existing stem cell lines can essentially be removed."
Stem cell research is performed using fetuses that would have been destroyed anyway. Can anybody argue that using them for research is morally any worse than simply destroying them?
Yes.
Perhaps you believe there are no fates worse than death. For the raw materials of procreation there are far far worse possibilities on the horizon.
Is it conceivable that you could create a normal (more or less) walking talking human out of cells that are never implanted? Numerous science fiction writers and other futurists seem to think this will someday be possible.
If so, would those created in such a manner be any less human?
By nurturing the cells along in development something closer to an actual human life is being created. Currently, in stem cell research what is created looks almost nothing at all like a human being. However if it is possible to grow fully normal humans from unimplanted embryos then isn't it also possible to create everything along the spectrum from biological waste to human being using the same raw materials and possibly even similar methods?
To me, this seems nothing if not rife with ethical dilemmas.
Who is going to watchdog the scientifically curious to be sure they do not create dog-boys for fun and brainless bodies to harvest for organs? And who decides whether and when dog-boys and brainless bodies are appropriate?