result #67198 - STEM CELL EXTRACTION FROM HUMAN CLONES IS NOW LEGAL IN BRITAIN. WHAT'S YOUR REACTION TO THIS?

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choices : news related : STEM CELL EXTRACTION FROM HUMAN CLONES IS NOW LEGAL IN BRITAIN. WHAT'S YOUR REACTION TO THIS? [+] serious ballot by xxxxxxxx created Wed Feb 09, 05 From The New Scientist: A licence to extract stem cells from cloned human embryos has been granted to the creator of Dolly the sheep, Ian Wilmut. The purpose of the research is to investigate motor neurone disease. On Tuesday, the UK's regulatory body, the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority, granted the therapeutic cloning licence to Wilmut and colleagues Paul de Sousa at the Roslin Institute in Edinburgh, and Christopher Shaw at King's College London. The one-year research licence is the second awarded in the UK that allows researchers to clone human embryos. The first was granted to scientists at the Newcastle Centre for Life in August 2004, to investigate embryonic development in order to develop treatments for serious diseases like diabetes. Wilmut and his colleagues will take cells from patients with motor neuron disease (MND), and create cloned embryos using a standard technique called cell nuclear replacement. This involves stripping a human egg of its nucleus and replacing it with the nucleus of the cell being cloned. The embryo is then artificially coaxed to divide as it would do naturally, producing stem cells. The stem cells will be coaxed into becoming neurons and then compared with neurons from people who lack the MND gene defect. Is the advent of human cloning for theraputic purposes ultimately a good thing or a bad thing in your opinion? Human cloning for this purpose is a good thing (explain) 4 Cloning of any description is OK with me 3 Human cloning for this purpose is a bad thing (explain) 2 ALL cloning is wrong 2 Too much like 'Playing God' 2 I have mixed feelings on this subject 0 Ballot #67198: has 13 total votes. invite people to vote on this ballot! Comment: content @ BESTANDWORST.COM smile bank: email this ballot link to friends COMMENTS: Have to admit, I have mixed feelings on this subject... by xxxxxxxx on Wed Feb 09, 05 9:41am [+] Excited but worried. More excited though. We are on the brink of a scientific enlightenment not seen since the last century. Disease will be eradicated, but people wil UNDOUBTEDELY try to perfect the human form, and will probably go to far. by kingAlfredTheGreat on Wed Feb 09, 05 9:48am [+] Enlightenment...Yes, a bit like being on the edge of a scientific precipice with only a 5 watt bulb, though. Things could get very murky from here on out. by xxxxxxxx on Wed Feb 09, 05 9:53am [+] At this level I don't have a problem with it, it appears it may do a lot of good. The future of the technique is what concerns me. by wolf_nipple_chips on Wed Feb 09, 05 9:59am [+] As long as we have a strong enough safety harness, why NOT jump over the edge for a better look? It just needs hefty regulation. Im literally talking life imprisonment for unlawful experimenting, and unauthorised alteration ( improvement?) of the human form. by kingAlfredTheGreat on Wed Feb 09, 05 10:00am [+] things sure have changed in that country since i left it by Ms_Doubtfire on Wed Feb 09, 05 10:02am [+] I think it's a good thing. It seems to me the only people who are against it, won't be the people who will benefit from this research. With their usual argument about ethical and moral dilemmas as well as the ever present fear of the abuse of science. This is not to say that people cannot have morals but if these people were to understand the pain that some people go through, to experience it first hand, they may reconsider their stance. As for the religious argument, If we all listened to the moral and religious raconteurs, the earth would still be flat, the mentally ill would be in league with the devil, evolution of species would be impossible, and we would probably still be living in caves thinking that fire was the greatest gift the gods had bestowed upon us. by xxxxxxxx on Wed Feb 09, 05 10:12am [+] To King Alfie... It's a bit like opening Pandora's Box though, isn't it? People will always try to circumvent the law and get away from it. I know I should never have watched that old movie, The Boys From Brazil! by xxxxxxxx on Wed Feb 09, 05 10:14am [+] Did I say get away *from* it? (The law.) I meant away *with* it, of course. by xxxxxxxx on Wed Feb 09, 05 10:16am [+] Have you met my friend, Frankenstein? Muhahahahah!! by xxxxxxxx on Wed Feb 09, 05 10:16am [+] You make some good points, IC. by xxxxxxxx on Wed Feb 09, 05 10:17am [+] I can relate to the suffering aspect and how urgently cures have to be found for those enduring the rigors of disease, but I do have qualms about the harvesting of human embryos, cloned or otherwise. Not from a religious standpoint, but because, to me, it just seems so much like exploitation in a way. Quite apart from imagining how things may go hideously awry further on down the line regarding Mengele-type experiments by unsavory wannabe human engineers... by xxxxxxxx on Wed Feb 09, 05 10:32am [+] Imagine a world where rich people like Dick Cheney live forever. by cretin_slap on Wed Feb 09, 05 10:38am [+] ^ Now, that's what I'd be more worried about. ^ by xxxxxxxx on Wed Feb 09, 05 10:41am [+] That IS a worrying thought! (And a distinct possibility.) by xxxxxxxx on Wed Feb 09, 05 10:44am [+] anyone who says its wrong FUCK YOU. there are people out there who need this to live, and you are just denying them it because of some god that you believe in who doesnt even exist by Preparation_H on Wed Feb 09, 05 10:49am [+] Not necessarily. There may be other reasons for being hesitant - not just religious reasons. Btw, I'm not actively against it, just unsure of its implications for the future. by xxxxxxxx on Wed Feb 09, 05 11:07am [+] yeah but still, think of all the people with diseases who need it to live. how would you like it if someone stopped you getting treatmnt for a life threatening ilness because it was "morally wrong"? by Preparation_H on Wed Feb 09, 05 11:18am [+] Hard to say. In this instance though, I might agree with them - not sure. by xxxxxxxx on Wed Feb 09, 05 11:20am [+] The medical potential for stem cells is quite literally endless. The possibility of such overwhelming good should outweigh any ethical hesitation. by ThisIsNate on Wed Feb 09, 05 11:32am [+] Hmmm.. but it doesn't, for me.... yet. by xxxxxxxx on Wed Feb 09, 05 11:37am [+] IC put it well. by mojo on Wed Feb 09, 05 11:45am [+] Good, I'm glad someone is doing research in this field. by herzog on Wed Feb 09, 05 6:55pm [+] We should donate money to a fund that will buy plane tickets for all our researchers so it can be a collaborative effort. Why do people want to give a lump of cells no bigger than a pinhead full human rights, while some of the same people are bombing abortion clinics, speaking out in favor of an Iraqi war, and advocating capital punishment? How many of these same people (or their loved ones) enjoy longer and more comfortable lives due to pain medicine, vaccinations, antibiotics, or other drugs? If you ask me, there IS no moral dilemma. It's like asking me if we should invent antibiotics, or vaccinations, or pain meds, or... by xxxxxxxx on Sun Feb 27, 05 1:41pm [+]