A Stem-Cell Win-Win
Yuval Levin at The Corner (not Bob Carlton’s Corner, the other corner):
Two prominent scientific journals—Science and Cell—are each today publishing papers that demonstrate extraordinary success with a technique called “somatic cell reprogramming….”…for the stem cell debate, this really could mean the end, and the best possible end: a scientific way around the ethical problem, just as responsible people on both sides of the debate have long hoped might be possible… you get the cells scientists have said are so valuable, and you avoid the violation of human equality and dignity that so troubles some of us….
This kind of outcome has been the hope behind President Bush’s stem cell policy. In fact, the President spoke about this very same technique—reprogramming skin cells—in a speech back in July of 2006, and earlier this year signed an executive order to encourage this kind of work (Thomson’s team, in fact, was supported by the NIH). He should get credit for sticking to a crucial moral principle against immense and often quite irresponsible political pressure.
Time for one of these:
Good job, Dubya.
posted Nov 20, 2007, 9:45am by Rodolpho Carrasco
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