i often struggle with bioethics. as a catholic, i hold strong beliefs regarding the sanctity of life. but as a scientist, i'm seeing the definition of "life" become more and more subjective.
a report of researchers cloning monkey embryos made the front page of today's washington post. as the article states, this advancement into the cloning of primates represents a huge step towards the usefulness of cloning technology for human medicine. the proof alone that viable stem cell lines can be achieved from the use of skin cells rather than "unused embryos" should be enough to justify federal funding into this field.
it's the last line of the article, from a catholic priest in charge of some think tank, that has me wondering most today though. the priest admits that this research can benefit greatly our insight into human disease, but he warns that if it is used to advance the purpose of cloning humans, that "such a pursuit, if successful, would be one of humanity's darkest endeavors."
why? not that i want to see an army of jango fetts in the middle east instead of our marines, but why would a human clone be our "darkest endeavor"? ethical morass, to be sure, but a cataclysm? i'm not so sure anymore.
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