Scientists largely agree that stem cells may hold a key to the treatment, and even cure, of many serious medical conditions. But while the use of adult stem cells is widely accepted, many religious groups and others oppose stem cell research involving the use and destruction of human embryos. At the same time, many scientists say that embryonic stem cell research is necessary to unlock the promise of stem cell therapies since embryonic stem cells can develop into any cell type in the human body.
In late 2007, researchers in the United States and Japan succeeded in reprogramming adult skin cells to act like embryonic stem cells. The new development offers the possibility that the controversy over the use of embryos could end. But many scientists and supporters of embryonic stem cell research caution that this advance has not eliminated the need for embryos, at least for the time being.
Recently, the Pew Forum sat down with Yuval Levin, author of Tyranny of Reason, to discuss the ethical and moral grounds for opposing embryonic stem cell research. Previously, Levin was the executive director of the Presidents Council on Bioethics. Currently, he is the Hertog Fellow at the Ethics and Public Policy Center in Washington, D.C., where he also directs the centers Bioethics and American Democracy program.
A counterargument explaining the case for embryonic stem cell research is made by Jonathan Moreno, a professor at the University of Pennsylvania and a senior fellow at the Center for American Progress in Washington, D.C.
Featuring:Yuval Levin, Hertog Fellow and Director of the Bioethics and American Democracy Program, Ethics and Public Policy Center
Interviewer:David Masci, Senior Research Fellow, Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life
Recently, researchers in the United States and Japan successfully turned human skin cells into cells that behave like embryonic stem cells. There has been some discussion that this advance makes the moral and ethical debate over embryonic stem cells moot. Do you think thats an accurate assessment?
I think its going to take a while for the ethical debate to catch up with the science. The scientific community has reacted very positively to this advancement, which was made in November 2007. There have been many additional scientific studies published on the topic since then, and it appears increasingly likely that the cells produced using skin cells are the equivalent of embryonic stem cells. So I think that, in time, this probably will be the final chapter of this particular debate about embryonic stem cells, but I dont think were at the end of it quite yet.
Do you agree with Professor James Thomson, who led the American research team that made this breakthrough, when he maintains that this advance does not, for the time being, abrogate the need for embryonic stem cell research?
Part of his argument for continuing to use embryonic stem cells was backward-looking to make the point that researchers wouldnt have been able to develop this technique if they hadnt been doing embryonic stem cell research. I think thats true, although in a certain way it actually vindicates the logic of President Bushs stem cell policy, which is to allow some work to be done without creating an incentive for the destruction of further embryos to advance the basic science in these kinds of directions.
Thomson also argued that there will still be a need to use embryos in the future. I think thats also a fair argument in the sense that there are always interesting things to learn from different kinds of experiments, but it doesnt address the ethical issues surrounding the debate. If there were no ethical concerns, then certainly the new development wouldnt mean embryonic research would become totally useless. But given that there are concerns, the case for destroying embryos does become a lot weaker. For some people, myself included, the ethical concerns are matters of principle and dont change with new developments.
But for a lot of people, the stem cell debate has always been a matter of balance. People are aware that there are ethical concerns and that there is enormous scientific promise. Now the debate is: Given the ethical questions at stake, is the scientific promise sufficient to make us put the ethical concerns aside and support the research? I think that balance has changed because of this advance, and having an alternative to embryonic stem cell research that achieves the same result will obviously affect the way people think about the ethics of this issue.
That doesnt mean the scientists no longer have any use for embryonic stem cells or even that they wont have any use for them. But I do think it means that people are going to change the way they reason about the balance between science and ethics because of this advance.
I know that you believe that human embryos have intrinsic worth. Do you believe that they have the same intrinsic worth as a five-year-old child or a 50-year-old man?
The question of intrinsic worth is complicated. I dont think it is right to try to determine an embryos intrinsic worth by debating when human life begins. The question of when life begins is a biological question, and the answer actually is fairly straightforward: The life of an organism begins at conception. The ethical question, however, is not about when a life begins but whether every life is equal, and thats a very different question.
I think that the embryonic stem cell debate is ultimately about the question of human equality. The United States has had one answer to that question written in its birth certificate the Declaration of Independence which states that all men are created equal. I think that examining this principle of human equality provides the right answer to this debate, but it is not a simple answer. Human equality doesnt mean that every person is the same or that every person can even be valued in the same way on every scale. What it means is that our common humanity is something that we all share. And what that means, in turn, is that we cant treat a human being in certain ways that we might non-human beings.
The protection of human life comes first. And to the extent that the debate is about whether it is acceptable to destroy a living human being for the purpose of science even for the purpose of helping other human beings I think that in that sense, the embryo is our equal. That doesnt mean that I would think of an embryo in the same way that I would think of a three-year-old child, but I would reject a technique that uses either of them for scientific experimentation.
So in other words, even though you would grieve the death of a 50-year-old man more than a five-day-old embryo, on at least the most basic level you believe that they both have the same right to life.
Yes, thats right. And right to life derives from human equality. The right to life is, in a way, drawn out of the political vocabulary of the Declaration of Independence. And so, to my mind, the argument at the heart of the embryonic stem cell debate is the argument about human equality.
Recently in The New Republic magazine, Harvard psychologist Steven Pinker wrote that conservative bioethicists like yourself consistently predict the worst when looking at developments in biotechnology. He went on to say that had there been a presidents council on cyber-ethics in the 1960s, no doubt it would have decried the threat of the Internet since it would inexorably lead to 1984 or computers taking over like HAL in 2001. How do you respond to this suggestion that there always seems to be this sort of chorus of doomsayers every time something new comes along?
To my mind, biotechnology is fundamentally different from past developments in technology because its directed to the human person. From the beginning of the scientific revolution, science and technology have tried to allow us to manipulate and shape the world around us for the benefit of man. Now that were beginning to manipulate and shape man, the question is: For the benefit of what? In some cases thats easy to see. Obviously curing disease is more of an old-fashioned scientific pursuit. But there are newer scientific developments, such as certain types of human enhancement technologies that raise very complicated questions of how we should judge the ends and the means of technological advancements. That being said, Pinker has a point, in a larger sense that judging the risks of new technologies is very difficult. In general, I think we ought to give the benefit of the doubt to our ability to use new technologies. I dont think that we should assume that the worst will happen. But there are specific instances, which are few but very important, when we do need to be cautious.
Lets shift gears to a question about religion and faith. Obviously there are people of faith on both sides of this debate. In fact, there are conservatives traditional social conservatives, such as Republican Sen. Orrin Hatch of Utah who support embryonic stem cell research. But could you explain how the Judeo-Christian and Western moral ethic informs your views on this issue and why you think that God is ultimately on your side?
Well, I dont know that I think that. My approach to this is not religious. Im not a particularly religious person and I come at this from more of a liberal democratic concern for human equality and the foundations of our society. That being said, those foundations are not utterly secular, and my understanding of them is not utterly secular. I think that to believe in human equality you do have to have some sense of a transcendent standard by which to make that judgment. In other words, when we talk about equality, what do we mean? Equal in relation to what?
Some people have certainly tried to make a purely secular liberal argument for human equality. While I think its very hard to ground a genuine, deep belief in human equality in a worldview that sees nothing above the material, I dont think that that belief depends on specific theological commitments. To my mind, its an American belief more than it is a religious belief.
Certainly I think that President Bushs commitment to human equality has a lot to do with a particular Christian sense of human worth and human value. But I dont think that its necessary to ground yourself in a particular theological or sectarian preference. I think that this is really about whether we believe in a liberal society, which comes from a belief in human equality. The American left, which for the most part is on the other side of this debate from where I am, has always been the champion of human equality, and I think that its a question that they have to really think about.
The Pew Forum and the Pew Research Center for the People & the Press have done polling on this issue over the last six or seven years and have found that Americans generally favor embryonic stem cell research. Why do you think this has happened, and what do you think this trend indicates?
Thats an interesting question. We actually did a poll here at the Ethics and Public Policy Center in February on a similar question, and the lesson I drew from that, and from some other polling thats been done, is that on the stem cell debate, people are just very confused about the facts, and the trend lines have generally followed the sense that cures are coming. In the end, the issue has been misrepresented as a choice between cures and Christianity, and people increasingly think that curing people like Christopher Reeve is just as much of a human good as protecting an embryo that they cant even imagine.
But when you dig down into peoples views about stem cell research, you find a great deal of confusion, and when you put the questions in ethical terms, you find small majorities opposing it. When you put the question in medical terms, you find, I think, somewhat larger majorities supporting it. In our poll, we asked the same people a series of questions that basically put the same issue in several different ways, and their responses are total opposites of one another. The fact that the same people come out on the opposite sides of the same issue when its put in different ways suggests to me that the issue is very hard to understand which it is.
Frequently one hears that, ultimately, you cant stop science or progress and that ethical, moral and religious objections inevitably will fall by the wayside when there are clear material gains to be made. Do you think thats the most likely scenario in this case, assuming the scientific community continues to see a need for embryonic stem cell research?
Well, thats the big assumption, right? To my mind, the aim of people such as myself has always been to find ways of doing the science without violating the ethics rather than to force a choice between the science and the ethics. If we force that choice, I think its more likely that the country would choose science over ethics, and thats exactly why we have to avoid the choice. I dont think we should be overconfident in our ability to persuade people to pass up a material benefit for an ethical principle, although I hope that can be done in the stem cell research debate. It certainly has been done in some instances when the principle was more evident and more obvious such as imposing limits on human subject research.
Again, the aim from my point of view and from a lot of people on my side of this argument has been to find ways to advance the science without violating the ethics. Thats the logic of President Bushs stem cell policy; thats why people have been pushing for alternatives; thats why theyre encouraging the development of these latest alternatives to avoid the choice, not to force the choice. I think thats the best thing for the country, from everybodys point of view. You dont want a situation where youve got sort of red-state medicine and blue-state medicine and people believe that the treatment their hospital is giving them is obtained in unethical ways. That would begin to break up the practice of medicine and to affect our attitudes about science which on the whole has done a tremendous amount of good for society. So I think what everybody should aim for is finding a way to end this potentially very damaging debate rather than force a choice.
This transcript has been edited for clarity, spelling and grammar.
See more here:
The Case Against Embryonic Stem Cell Research: An ...
- Stem Cell Science and Human Research Studies Ahead of Cargo Arrival - NASA Blogs - February 21st, 2024
- Harvard Stem Cell Institute (HSCI) - December 29th, 2023
- Stem cell - Wikipedia - December 29th, 2023
- A Look Inside Stem Cells Helps Create Personalized Regenerative ... - May 17th, 2023
- Heart disease study shows hope for stem cell treatment - March 4th, 2023
- Focus On Stem Cell Research | National Institute of Neurological ... - March 4th, 2023
- Stem Cell Research: Argumentative Essay - Free Essay Example - Edubirdie - March 4th, 2023
- Automated Cell Culture Systems Market Size to Hit USD 12.43 Billion by 2033; Growing Stem Cell Research & Development and Increasing Prevalence of... - October 21st, 2022
- NIH Guidelines for Human Stem Cell Research - October 13th, 2022
- Ethics of Stem Cell Research - Blue Marble Space Institute of Science - October 13th, 2022
- Global Cell Therapy Market Report (2022 to 2028) - Featuring Thermo Fisher Scientific, MaxCyte, Danaher and Avantor Among Others -... - October 13th, 2022
- Stem Cell Therapy Market (2022-2029) Size Will Escalate Rapidly in the Near Future: Osiris Therapeutics, Molmed - Digital Journal - October 13th, 2022
- Fighting One Disease or Condition per Day - Daily Kos - October 13th, 2022
- The Issue of Tissue: Getting to the Source of the HIV Reservoir - amfAR, The Foundation for AIDS Research - October 13th, 2022
- Cell Isolation Global Market Report 2022: Significant Growth in the Medical and Pharmaceutical Industries Driving Sector - ResearchAndMarkets.com -... - October 13th, 2022
- Nancy and Geoffrey Stack Family Foundation give $2 million to UCI Health - UCI News - October 4th, 2022
- Cell Isolation Market is expected to generate a revenue of USD 20.50 Billion by 2028, Globally, at 15.70% CAGR: Verified Market Research -... - September 25th, 2022
- Creating stem cells from minipigs offers promise for improved treatments - University of Wisconsin-Madison - September 16th, 2022
- Hemostemix Announces the Appointment of Dr. Renzo Cecere, MD, FRCSC to Its Scientific Advisory Board - Yahoo Finance - September 16th, 2022
- Genomics study identifies unique set of proteins that restores hearing in zebrafish - National Institutes of Health (.gov) - September 16th, 2022
- Discovered Key Mechanisms to Improve Intestinal Regeneration and Alleviate the Side Effects of Radiotherapy - Imaging Technology News - September 16th, 2022
- Global Cell Expansion Market Size to Grow at a CAGR of 15% during the Forecast Period 2022-2027 - Digital Journal - September 16th, 2022
- The American Cancer Society Awards $2.1 Million to Montefiore Einstein Cancer Center to Support Cancer Research and Tackle Inequities - Yahoo Finance - September 16th, 2022
- Hair Restoration Market | Stem Cell hair Restoration and Low-level Laser Therapy (LLLT) segment are Expected to Witness Significant CAGR - MDC... - August 30th, 2022
- Stem Cell Therapy for Parkinson's: Current Developments - Healthline - August 5th, 2022
- 'Off the shelf' CAR T cells for cancer treatment? - Boston Children's Answers - Boston Children's Discoveries - August 5th, 2022
- Inflammation accelerates aging of the hematopoietic system - EurekAlert - August 5th, 2022
- New patent-pending method mass-produces antitumor cells to treat blood diseases and cancer - Purdue University - August 5th, 2022
- Cell Therapy Technologies Market worth $8.0 billion by 2027 - Exclusive Report by MarketsandMarkets - PR Newswire - August 5th, 2022
- Twenty-Five Years After My House Call To Dolly: What Have We Learned About Cloning And How Did We Learn It? - Forbes - August 5th, 2022
- Tendon Stem Cell Therapy Market is Booming Worldwide with Strong Growth Prospects | Cellualar Dynamics, Cellectis, International Stem cell... - July 27th, 2022
- [Pangyo Bio & Medical] Theragen Bio discovers MAST4 Protein that Regulates Bone Cartilage Development For 'The First Time in The World' - Digital... - July 27th, 2022
- Cell Culture Media Market Size Worth $10.2 Billion by 2030: Grand View Research, Inc. - PR Newswire - July 27th, 2022
- Cryopreservation Equipment Market Report 2022-2028: Importance of Cryopreservation for Success of Cell-Based Therapies Presents Opportunities -... - July 27th, 2022
- Whitmer axes stem cell research, pregnancy center funding over abortion access concerns - MLive.com - July 19th, 2022
- Stem Cell - National Human Genome Research Institute Home - July 11th, 2022
- Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells (iPS) | UCLA Broad Stem Cell Center - July 11th, 2022
- Global 3D Cell Culture Market To Be Driven By Growing Impact Of Economy On Regenerative Medicine, Emerging Applications Of Gene Therapy During The... - July 11th, 2022
- New Combination Therapy Effective in Pediatric Leukemia - Technology Networks - June 22nd, 2022
- MIT Pioneers Technology To Grow Customizable Wood Products in the Lab With Little Waste - SciTechDaily - June 22nd, 2022
- First-of-its-Kind Stem Cell and Gene Therapy Highlighted at Annual Stem Cell Meeting - Newswise - June 13th, 2022
- Scientists hope this injectable stem cell gel can repair heart attack damage and avoid transplants - Euronews - June 13th, 2022
- Axol Bioscience Introduces CiPA-Validated Human Stem Cell-Derived Ventricular Cardiomyocytes to Help Improve Drug Discovery - Business Wire - June 13th, 2022
- Fasting has pros and cons for muscle repair in mice - Futurity: Research News - June 13th, 2022
- First Clinical Trial of Transplanted 3D Ear Using Human Cells Proves Successful via 3DBio Therapeutics - Tech Times - June 4th, 2022
- Insights on the Dimethyl Sulfoxide (DMSO) Global Market to 2027 - Expanding Research and Development in Stem Cell Transplantation to Benefit Demand... - May 15th, 2022
- Scientists Rejuvenate Skin Cells by 30 Years, with Pioneering Potential - BioSpace - May 15th, 2022
- Global Flow Cytometry Market is expected to grow at a lucrative rate of 8% to reach $11 billion by 2026 A Robust Tool that Defines New Era for... - May 15th, 2022
- Global Mesenchymal Stem Cells Market Research Report to 2027 - Featuring Astellas Pharma, Axol Biosciences and BrainStorm Cell Therapeutics Among... - May 2nd, 2022
- Researchers share insights about the mechanisms of human embryo and create method to develop transcriptionally similar cells in tissue culture -... - May 2nd, 2022
- Flow Cytometry Market is Estimated Drive the Industry Growth Across World in Coming Year 2030 Queen Anne and Mangolia News - Queen Anne and Mangolia... - May 2nd, 2022
- Mini-heart chamber beats on its own just like the real thing - Futurity: Research News - May 2nd, 2022
- Burst of accumulated zinc shows how the mineral boosts immune function, suggesting ways to improve health - EurekAlert - April 6th, 2022
- Hoyer Statement on the Retirement of Congressman Fred Upton - Majority Leader - April 6th, 2022
- 11 Stem Cell Research Pros and Cons Vittana.org - March 25th, 2022
- Research Associate, Cancer and Stem Cell Laboratory job with UNIVERSITY OF SYDNEY | 287031 - Times Higher Education - March 25th, 2022
- Google still has a problem with stem cell and unproven therapies - STAT - STAT - March 25th, 2022
- Medeze Named Frost & Sullivan's 2021 Company of the Year in the Southeast Asia Stem Cell Banking Industry - PR Newswire - March 25th, 2022
- Bone Marrow-Derived Stem Cells (BMSCS) Market Report- Growth in Future with Size, Share, Growth, and Key Companies Analysis Cord Blood Registry... - March 25th, 2022
- Autologous Stem Cell and Non-Stem Cell Based Therapies Market Future Business Opportunities 2022-2028 | Caladrius Biosciences, Vericel Corporation,... - March 25th, 2022
- Cell Therapy Market Trends, Revenue, Key Players, Growth, Share and Forecast Till 2028 Reports and Data - Digital Journal - March 25th, 2022
- This Fancy AF Face Cream Was Invented by a Stem Cell Researcher - VICE - March 25th, 2022
- Freeze Thaw Chambers Market: The cryopreserved products segment is expected to drive the growth of the market - BioSpace - January 5th, 2022
- As Nave as They Get - Weizmann Wonder Wander - News, Features and Discoveries - Weizmann Institute of Science - January 5th, 2022
- Jake's mice: Searching for answers to the puzzle of autism - huntingdondailynews.com - January 5th, 2022
- Primary Cells, Stem Cells, Culture Media and Reagents Market to Witness Rapid Growth by 2029 | BrainStorm Cell Therapeutics Inc., Caladrius... - January 5th, 2022
- Gait Rehabilitation System Market: Rising incidence of various neurological disorders to drive the market - BioSpace - January 5th, 2022
- ARVO Foundation Announces 2022 Bert M. Glaser, MD Award for Innovative Retina Research Recipient - Newswise - January 5th, 2022
- Communication between cells plays a major role in deciding their fate - EurekAlert - December 24th, 2021
- The 10 Most Compelling Research Stories of 2021 - BioSpace - December 24th, 2021
- MRC Lead Apologizes Following Bullying Allegations - The Scientist - December 24th, 2021
- California Proposition 14, Stem Cell Research Institute ... - November 22nd, 2021
- Ethical Issues in Stem Cell Research - PubMed Central (PMC) - November 22nd, 2021
- Opinion | How Covid Raised the Stakes of the War Between Faith and Science - The New York Times - November 8th, 2021
- What is Stem Cell Research? | The Benefits of Stem Cell Research - October 5th, 2021
- An Overview of Stem Cell Research | The Center for Bioethics ... - October 5th, 2021
- Stem Cell Research: Uses, Types & Examples - October 5th, 2021
- Stem Cells | National Institutes of Health (NIH) - October 5th, 2021
- Stem cells: Therapy, controversy, and research - October 5th, 2021
- Focus On Stem Cell Research | National Institute of ... - October 5th, 2021