(h/t to Wesley Smith for the title of this post – I couldn’t think of a better description) Though President Obama has overturned the Bush stem cell policy and the NIH has made 13 more stem cell lines available for federal funding, there remains in place legislative restrictions on using appropriated funds for the creation of human embryos for research … Read More
UK Scientists Clone 3-Parent Embryos
The back cover of Michael Crichton’s biotechnology thriller Next states: Welcome to our genetic world. Fast, furious, and out of control. This is not the world of the future — it’s the world right now. Sadly, the out of control genetic world is no longer limited to the stuff of science fiction, and hasn’t been for several years now. The … Read More
The Absolute Uniqueness of Human Beings
The following pictures are from a report earlier this year from the U.S. based Advanced Cell Technology on the Reprogramming of Human Somatic Cells Using Human and Animal Oocytes. Did you ever, in your wildest dreams, imagine that scientists would actually produce an organism that was part human, part cow?? And, yet, it’s being done, right here in our own … Read More
Pope Appoints ESCR/Cloning Supporter *Updated
This was not a welcome sight this morning: Pope Benedict XVI has appointed two prominent scientists to the Pontifical Academy of Sciences: Francis S. Collins, director of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), and Edward M. De Robertis, a chemical biology professor at the Howard Hughes Medical Institute at the University of California at Los Angeles. Collins was a leader … Read More
Mad Scientists!
This is truly frightening. In the UK a new rule may allow scientists to create cloned human/animal embryos with patient’s donated tissue without their consent: Tens of thousands of samples of human tissue will be offered for use in controversial human/animal hybrid embryo research without the consent of the patients who donated them. New rules coming into force next month … Read More
Study: Memory Forms at 30 Weeks in the Womb
Behold the awesome wonder of unborn human life! (h/t Respect Life STL on Twitter): WEDNESDAY, July 15 (HealthDay News) — Fetuses that are only 30 weeks old may already possess short-term memory, Dutch researchers report. “This is the next step into a better insight in the development of the fetal central nervous system,” said study co-author Dr. Jan G. Nijhuis, … Read More
Persons First
She’s been hailed as a “symbol”, the image of the revolution being fought in Iran. Sure, her death has inspired many to continue to fight against oppression and that may be good, but in this excellent and thought provoking post, Erin Manning reminds us that “Neda” is above all a person, not a symbol: But Neda Agha-Soltan was a person, … Read More
NIH Revisiting ESCR Guidelines, Tell Them What You Think
Today the Family Research Council issued this action call: As you may know, President Bush’s policy was to allow funding for research that involved embryonic stem cells taken from human embryos so long as the cells were obtained on or prior to August 9, 2001. Since then, the government has funded research on over 22 stem cell lines. President Bush’s … Read More
Dickey-Wicker Amendment Upheld…So Far
In my post about President Obama’s executive order on stem cell research funding I mentioned a few things to look out for as a result of his pronouncement. One of those things was the overturning of the Dickey-Wicker Amendment which prohibits federal tax dollars from being used to create or destroy human embryos for scientific research. I do have good … Read More
Dismissing Successful Science
Regular readers of this blog know that I am a steadfast advocate for ethical research and treatments and I will frequently point out the ineffectiveness of embryonic stem cell research and the existence of more effective and ethical alternatives. Although I make it a point to stress the fact that, in the final analysis, the question of whether or not … Read More