The International Society for Stem Cell Research recommended lifting a rule in place for 40 years, which may weaken protections for embryos. New Jersey Congressman Chris Smith vehemently opposed the move and seeks legislation banning human-animal hybrids.
Politicians in Washington, D.C. have recently moved to support research that permits experimentation for the purpose of creating “animal-human” hybrids, thus upping the ante for those who view human embryos as simple cell matter.
It’s time for another debate on stem-cell research. A campaign to relax the rules has been under way for a few years now, and the ISSCR has just endorsed it.
14-day limit prohibition for human embryo research abandoned June 1, 2021
The international scientific body governing stem cell research is abandoning the absolute 14-day limit on culturing human embryos in the laboratory, putting pressure on Canada’s law prohibiting the practice.
“As happens so often in human affairs, opening the door on a controversial but somewhat defensible position (not from the Church’s point of view though) bumps up against a boundary which is first deemed arbitrary and then seen as limiting true science. So the push is on to expand the pool of available research material,” Redemptorist bioethicist Fr. Mark Miller told
Peter Griffin05:00, May 31 2021
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We have some of the strictest human embryo research rules in the world.
OPINION: The idea of growing a human embryo in a laboratory rather than a person’s womb sounds outlandish and some would say, unethical. But it is happening around the world and for good reason. Using human stem cells, which have the ability to develop into all sorts of different cell types in our bodies, scientists have figured out how to develop an embryo in a petri dish. The aim isn’t to produce lab-grown babies, that’s not even possible – yet. It means scientists can avoid the controversial use of unused embryos from fertility clinics. Instead, model embryos can be cultured and studied to learn more about the crucial developmental period in the days and weeks just after conception.