The ABCs of Biotech for Christians - Twentieth in a series - S is for Stem Cells
Killjoy: noun. a person who deliberately spoils the enjoyment of others through resentful or overly sober behavior.
synonyms: spoilsport, wet blanket, damper, party pooper; prophet of doom
Is that me?
I am pro-life and I do not want scientists to use embryonic stem cells in experiments.
“The problem we have with embryonic stem cells is simply the fact that you have to destroy a young human being to get embryonic stem cells,” says David Prentice, senior fellow for life science at the Family Research Council, an advocacy group. “We would reject the idea that any human being be destroyed for experimental purposes.”
In a previous post, types of stem cells were described. Pro-lifers are in favor of adult stem cell therapies.
It hardly seems to matter what pro-lifers think. ES cell therapies are continuing to develop at warp speed and it is likely that they will soon “hold a candle” to the adult stem cell therapies that actually heal conditions from paralysis to macular degeneration.
Consider this excerpt from a recent article:
Embryonic stem (ES) cells provide unparallelled information on early development. Like astronomers looking back to the Big Bang for fundamental insight about the Universe, biologists rake over the molecules inside these remarkable entities for clues as to how a single original cell turns into trillions, with a dizzying array of forms and functions. Scientists have learnt how to turn the cells into dozens of mature cell types representing various tissues and organs in the body. These are used to test drugs, to model disease and, increasingly, as therapies injected into the body. Starting with an attempt to repair spinal-cord injuries in 2010, there have been more than a dozen clinical trials of cells created from ES cells — to treat Parkinson’s disease and diabetes, among other conditions. Early results suggest that some approaches are working: a long-awaited report this week shows improved vision in two people with age-related macular degeneration, a disease that destroys the sharpness of vision.
Another article states that Japan is about to allow gene editing of human embryos.
The tampering with human embryos has included their use in flavoring for beverages, in skin products, and even in jewelry creation. And ES cells have been inserted into mice and other creatures for experimentation.
God is not mocked. Sorry to be a killjoy.
Destroying new life with its pluripotent potential to grow to a full-size human being to divert it to a way of benefitting or amusing a fellow human, is anti-human. If we cannibalize one another for personal gain, what have we become?
But, you may say, are we not doing much the same when we transplant organs from deceased people or even when we donate blood? Now think: Is there a difference between using skin and bone from cadavers in research labs and using embryonic stem cells? Is your blood a human by scientific definition?
Are there no differentiations? And we wonder, if we stand against certain types of therapies in theory, will we be able to know in practice whether we have violated our own principles? Induced pluripotent stem cells are combined with ES cells. So are adult ones. We would not necessarily know.
But if offered the opportunity to try a new therapy that is known to incorporate ES cells, would you say Yes?
...Is life so dear, or health so sweet, as to be purchased at the price of human life? Forbid it, Almighty God!
Paraphrased from Patrick Henry: … Is life so dear, or peace so sweet, as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery? Forbid it, Almighty God!
Let’s pursue adult stem cell therapies. There is a difference.