Scientists In Michigan Engage in Clone-and-Kill Human Research

Bioethics, ,

University scientists in Michigan reportedly have developed a new technique to rapidly create “embryoids” — living organisms that are very similar to ordinary human embryos — in a lab.

According to an article published in Nature, researchers created the “embryoids” from embryonic stem cells as well as adult stem cells. Scientists experimented on the embryoids for a few days, and then apparently destroyed them.

There are several problems with this research:

First, it used embryonic stem cells to create the embryoids.

Embryonic stem cells are harvested from healthy unborn babies during the embryonic stage of development. Scientists create or clone an unborn child and then harvest its embryonic stem cells soon afterward, killing the child in the process.

Embryonic stem cell research is highly unethical, which is why it is illegal in some states — including Arkansas — and why there has always been controversy over efforts to fund embryonic stem cell research with public tax dollars. The fact that researchers used embryonic stem cells to create some of their “embryoids” is a real problem.

Second, the “embryoids” researchers created in the lab arguably are human embryos who simply are missing a couple of parts.

Researchers noted that the embryoids were similar to human embryos, but they lacked a placenta and yolk sac that develops into the umbilical cord and gastrointestinal tract.

But the placenta and yolk sac are not what make human embryos living, sacred human beings. An umbilical cord does not make an unborn child a “person” any more than an arm or a lung does. Scientists apparently want to argue that an embryo isn’t really an embryo if it’s missing a part or two. That’s very troubling.

Third, these “embryo structures,” as one of the researchers called them, were created, experimented on, and then killed in the name of science.

Over and over again we’ve seen scientists clone-and-kill human embryos in labs across America and around the world. As we have said for 20 years, this type of research simply is unethical.

Unborn children — including human embryos — aren’t lab material. All scientific research must respect the sanctity and dignity of human life.

Read more about this story from NPR.

Read the research article here.

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Scientists Trying to Edit Human DNA: NPR Report

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Recently we wrote about American scientists working in China to create human-monkey hybrids.

The goal, researchers say, is to grow organs for transplant patients, but other scientists have pointed out problems with this explanation.

Here’s another story about similar research being carried out on U.S. soil:

Last week NPR reported that scientists in America now are trying to manipulate human DNA.

The scientists are using the controversial gene-editing technology CRISPR.

The goal is to eliminate certain genetic anomalies and diseases.

NPR writes,

First it was human embryos. Now scientists are trying to develop another way to modify human DNA that can be passed on to future generations, NPR has learned.

Reproductive biologists at Weill Cornell Medicine in New York City are attempting to use the powerful gene-editing technique called CRISPR to alter genes in human sperm. NPR got exclusive access to watch the controversial experiments underway. . . .

But others say editing DNA in sperm raises the same troubling questions as editing DNA in embryos. Would it ever be safe to make babies that way? Would it open the door to someone someday trying to make “designer babies”? Should scientists be trying to tinker with the human gene pool in ways that could affect generations to come?

There are plenty of reasons this kind of research is unethical. Here are two:

First, after manipulating the DNA in human sperm, the next logical step is to create human embryos for testing.

In other cases where CRISPR was used to edit human genes, this meant creating and killing unborn babies in the name of “science.” This kind of “create-and-kill” research is simply unconscionable.

Second, this research inevitably treats unborn children like lab material. The children created and affected by these sorts of gene-editing experiments have zero say in what happens to them. They are at the mercy of the researchers.

As we have said many times, human beings are not research material, but gene-editing technologies like CRISPR treat them that way.

All scientific research must respect the sanctity of human life.

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California Passes Bill Against DIY Gene Hacking

Bioethics,

Recently the California General Assembly passed a law against so-called “do-it-yourself” gene hacking.

Modern technology makes it possible to edit the human genome. While it sounds like the stuff of science fiction, we’ve seen headlines recently about scientists in China who have edited human genes and tried to create human/animal hybrids.

Gene-editing technologies like CRISPR have hit the open market, but California, of all states, seems to want to do something about it.

John Stonestreet at the Colson Center for Christian Worldview writes,

The [California] Assembly passed, and Governor Newsom signed, a bill that prohibits the sale of do-it-yourself genetic engineering kits—unless the kit has a label warning that it is “not for self-administration.”

Hey, it’s a start. As noted at Vox, Silicon Valley is home to the biohacking movement, which, in essence, attempts to extend life through technology. But tinkering with the human genome poses enormous risks not only to those who self-edit their genes, but to the public at large.

One Oakland biohacker has been selling such kits, so it’s entirely appropriate that California has now passed the “first-ever legislation addressing emerging CRISPR technology, [which] will help prevent safety mishaps by amateur users of CRISPR kits.”

CRISPR is the same gene-editing technology that scientists have used to clone and kill human embryos for research.

As we have said many times, human beings are not research material, but gene-hacking technologies like CRISPR treat them that way.

All scientific research must respect the sanctity of human life.

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