Embryo Stem Cells
The stem cell debate may have slipped from America’s headlines, but research goes on. Many people, on both sides of the arguement, fundementally misunderstood the Bush administration ban on stem cell research. The crux of it is that the GOVERNMENT would not fund stem cell research, but private industry and individuals were still allowed to.
So, all though there is a government funds ban on stem cell research, stem cell research has continued. The thing that makes stem cells special is that they can become any of the 220 types of cells within the human body. The current news is that researchers in Wisconsin have gotten the stem cells to become motor nuerons, which allow the brain and muscles to talk. This could lead to cures for Lou G. diease and other motor function ailments.
The rub is that the cells are harvests from babies, not fetuses mind you, and that is where the moral issue lies. Some argue that it allows babies that were aborted to have a use, but others argue it makes abortion less impactful as it takes the baby to no more then cells and since those cells helped another then the abortion is not as morally painful for the mother. One of the unmentioned ideas though is use of ambilical stem cells (from the ambical cord that is cut at birth) that could be used instead of the cells of an aborted baby.
The debate and the research will both go on, but remember just because it is not in the news does not mean it is not occuring. Be mindful and follow God’s lead on how to combat the use of aborted stem cells for both research and cures to diease.
