A recent experiment cloning human embryos for potential stem cell use did little to advance a medical breakthrough and violated human life, Catholic experts said in reaction to the news. ”The attitudes of the scientists involved,” said Fr. Thomas Berg, head of the Westchester Institute for Ethics and the Human Person, show a “profound disrespect for the goods inherent to natural procreation and a demeaning of human life.”
In an experiment publicized Oct. 5 in the scientific journal “Nature,” scientists created 13 early-stage human embryos that were partial genetic clones of diabetic patients. Each embryo carried an extra set of chromosomes-three instead of two – the embryos would not have been viable if implanted in a womb.
In order for the technique to potentially create usable stem cells to treat diseases, scientists would have to eliminate the extra set of chromosomes to create an embryonic human clone effectively.
Though the study sparked intense media interest, Catholics in the fields of science and bioethics said that the experiment not only failed to mark a significant development but also signaled a blatant disrespect for human life.
“In some restricted sense it is a ‘breakthrough’ to the extent that it constitutes a tweak to the cloning process,” said Fr. Berg, who is also a professor of Moral Theology from New York’s St. Joseph’s Seminary in Yonkers. However, he added, “in terms of eventual therapeutic uses, it would appear there is little to no benefit.”
Fr. Berg explained that human cloning as an avenue for stem-cell based therapies has become “a scientific side-show” in the past few years and is rapidly losing the interest and appeal “that once captivated the biotech world.”
Fr. Berg said that the study ultimately provides no practical help for people with illnesses “in any foreseeable future,” and that the media coverage surrounding it hearkens “back to the stem-cell hype of the past mid-decade.” ”That decade demonstrated in spades that such hype was no service to persons who hope to benefit therapeutically today from stem cell science,” he remarked. “The only place that is happening actively is in the arena of adult stem cell research.”
Full Article: EWTN News
Image: Scientific American