Stem cell research

[v3g4n]

Who is okay with stem cell research from human embryos and who is not? I find it interesting that some people are okay with non-human animal research (obviously not you) but are not okay with embryo research. Is it not a fact that aborted embryos are less capable of feeling pain than fully developed animals? Here is one article I found regarding

Comments

[twisted888]

I don't think I've done enough research on it to have a definite opinion. I'd like to read more about it.

[absentesse]

Have you ever read any Peter Singer? He's done some writing about animal vs human experimentation (not specifically stem cell research but defiently falls under the same category) that is pretty confronting but really thought provoking. I think the particular book is called "Practical Ethics" and the chapter is called 'Taking Life: The Embryo and the Fetus'.

I personally think we should experiment on aborted fetuses and embryo's before animals.

[turnyourback]

peter singer is my fucking favorite.

[v3g4n]

I haven't read any of his work but I have seen him speak on TV and in person I believe. I do like him.

[turnyourback]

on tv?? where/what channel? haha, the only place i've ever heard him speak was a video i downloaded of a lecture he gave at nyu :(

[silverperoxide]

I think a lot of the people who are against experimenting on human embryos are against for religious reasons and are the same people who are against abortion as from the moment of conception they see them as human beings, making abortion tantamount to murder. Personally not ready to weigh in, I really don't know enough details about it, but I am fairly certain that many of the opponents of it have religious reasons.

[lavajin]

Considering an embryo is just a clump of cells that haven't yet decided what they're going to form into, much less anything resembling nerves or a brain to receive pain impulses, I would say no, an embryo most definitely cannot feel pain.

If stem cells can cure awful diseases and repair spinal injuries, then I say have at them! They'd be thrown away otherwise. (excepting, of course, the few that might be 'adopted' by religious wingnuts)

[hippiedreambox]

Ummm...I guess I'm pretty uneducated on the subject. But my initial feeling is that if the embryos in question are otherwise not destined for birth...and if they are unable to feel pain or experience an awareness of or desire for life...then I would be OK with using them for stem cell research to cure serious diseases or paralyzing conditions.