An eight-week-old human
embryo: Ready or not, a breakthrough
last week by Oregon
Health & Science University scientists signals
that humanity is nearing
the capacity to clone people.
Human Cloning Nears: A 'Dream and a Nightmare' (Wiener Zietung, Germany)
"In Austria and Germany the shared history of the Nazis,
under whose rule science trampled on human dignity, has defined the acceptable
limits: the cloning of human cells is prohibited here. ... The possibilities of
such a future cannot be prohibited by law, nor indeed by moral taboo. Not all
cultures consider it a sin that Adam was tempted by Eve to sample the apple of
knowledge."
Dr. Shoukhrat Mitalipov in his Oregon Health & Science University lab, May 13. Biologists at OHSU, led by Dr. Mitalipov, have finally created human stem cells by the same technique that produced Dolly the cloned sheep in 1996. The result is a harvest of human embryonic stem cells, which are capable of differentiating into any other cell that makes up a person. The consequences are earthshaking in both moral and scientific terms.
We
humans are flawed beings. Unfortunately, not only in morals terms, but also
with regard to our physical frailty. A delay in the latter, as far as is
possible, is the great promise of human genetic research. Its possibilities,
which become greater with every new breakthrough in research, shake our image
of humanity and its dignity. [The result]: Human cloning remains both a dream
and a nightmare.
However,
we must entertain no illusions about the effectiveness of strict legislation.
In Austria and Germany the shared history of the Nazis, under whose rule
science trampled on human dignity, has defined the acceptable limits: the
cloning of human cells is prohibited here.
Other
countries emphasize the potential of this technology. Spinal cord injuries,
multiple sclerosis or Parkinson’s could one day be cured with its help; a
monumental dream for millions.
Posted By Worldmeets.US
The
possibilities of such a future cannot be prohibited by law, nor indeed by moral
taboo. Not all cultures consider it a sin that Adam was tempted by Eve to
sample the apple of knowledge. Insatiable curiosity has undoubtedly always
opened up new horizons for humanity. While some revealed an abyss and others
proved a dead end, the remainder created the huge pyramid of knowledge that we
draw upon today.
Thus
- and knowing human nature - to insist on prohibition is not a meaningful and
realistic response to the promise of genetic research. The aim must be to live
the dream of curing diseases that have so far been incurable, and to rein in
the nightmare of human cloning.
For
policy makers, this means maintaining the flexibility of the legal framework
for this morally precarious research. It is the prerogative of moral
institutions like churches to concentrate on the risks and to state ethical
principles as the guideline for their conduct. By contrast, policy makers must
not close their eyes to the possibilities. They must, however, proceed with a
healthy amount of skepticism, and in the knowledge that our curiosity can also
lead us into the abyss.
