From test-tube babies to Dolly to stem cells, the debate over man’s ability to tinker with the building blocks of life hit a new political crescendo Monday.
President Bush said he sees great promise in fighting and curing diseases through stem-cell research, but the process should be carried out without crossing the “morally hazardous” line of cloning humans and destroying natural human embryos.
Bush’s comments came in response to the announcement by Advanced Cell Technologies, a Worcester, Mass.-based firm that has now cloned human embryonic cells in an effort to create samples for stem-cell research.
The company’s researchers claim they are seeking to develop genetically compatible replacement cells that could be used for tissue engineering and transplant medicine, opening the door to heretofore unseen frontiers in medical science.
The essential components of the process involved removing the nucleus of a human egg cell and placing a nucleus from a somatic, or tissue, cell into that egg. The egg will then grow and reproduce with the exact same genetic makeup of the individual from which the somatic cell was taken.
“This is a ‘Dolly’ type of cloning experiment, only with human DNA,” UW-Madison clinical law professor Alta Charo said. “This is not a scientific breakthrough; it simply has moral and political ramifications.”
Critics of the practice, including Rep. Scott Suder, R- Abbotsford, said any practice that attempts to alter the fundamentals of human life is inherently immoral.
“This is very dangerous territory that we’ve embarked upon,” Suder said. “I oppose the assertion that this will not be used in the future to clone humans. We need a nationwide ban on human cloning, period.”
Other groups share his viewpoint, including the Catholic Church and other faith-based organizations.
“A lot of people have issues with the early stages of embryonic development,” said Robert Streiffer, UW associate professor of philosophy and medical science ethics. “If the embryos were viable, they are before the stage where they could split and form twins.”
The cells manufactured by Advanced Cell Technologies would not be capable of growing into a fetus should it be placed in a human host.
Several states have banned human cloning, and a law that would make cloning a federal crime has passed the U.S. House of Representatives but is awaiting debate by the Senate.
Legislation authored by state Rep. Steve Kestell, R-Elkhart Lake, that would ban all forms of human cloning in the state of Wisconsin is currently awaiting full sponsorship.
Such legislation, however, could face partisan opposition.
“I would want a real scientific debate on exactly what we are talking about,” Assembly Minority Leader Spencer Black said. “Cloning brings up images of sci-fi movies ? taking someone’s nose and growing another human out of it. But that isn’t at all what this is about.”
In the meantime, the feasibility and likelihood of a human “Dolly” remains difficult to fully ascertain.
“The term “human being” is intrinsically vague,” Charo said. “Could we use cloning to bring a child into the world? Right now, we don’t know. Most cloning efforts fail, but the technique and efficiency is improving.”
