Transcript Stem Cells and Moral Analogies

Dennis M. Sullivan, MD, MA (Ethics)
Professor of Biology
Director, Center for Bioethics
Cedarville University
Center Web site:
www.cedarville.edu/bioethics
E-mail: [email protected]
Objectives
 To review the current context of the human cloning
debate, especially as it relates to embryo-destructive
research
 To describe recent attempts to craft a legal barrier to
biomedical extremism in Ohio
President Obama Speech (3/9/09):
Changing the NIH Funding Policy for Embryonic Stem Cell Research
 Today, with the Executive Order I am about to sign, we will bring
the change that so many scientists and researchers; doctors and
innovators; patients and loved ones have hoped for, and fought
for, these past eight years: we will lift the ban on federal funding
for promising embryonic stem cell research . . .
 At this moment, the full promise of stem cell research remains
unknown, and it should not be overstated . . .
 When government fails to make these investments,
opportunities are missed. Promising avenues go unexplored . . .
 [W]e [will] make scientific decisions based on facts, not
ideology.
Robert George
& Christopher Tollefsen:
 On January 16, 2007, a remarkable journey came to an end . . .
Sixteen months earlier, Noah Benton Markham’s life had been
jeopardized by the winds and rain of Hurricane Katrina. Trapped
in a flooded hospital in New Orleans, Noah depended upon the
timely work of [many rescuers] to take him to safety . . .
 Noah’s story of rescue is . . . one of many inspirational tales of
heroism from that national disaster.
 What, then, makes it unique? And why did the story of his
rescue end sixteen months after the events of September 2006?
 The answer: Noah [was] one of the youngest residents of New
Orleans to be saved from Katrina . . .
A Difference in Perspective:
 According to the first narrative:
 Frozen human embryos are a means to an end
 They are valuable for the good they might provide for
others
 Based on highly speculative research that has yet to cure
a single human illness
A Difference in Perspective (cont.):
 According to the second narrative:
 Frozen human embryos are ends in themselves
 An embryo is “a whole living member of the species
Homo sapiens in the earliest stage of his or her natural
development.”*
 If not implanted:



A tragedy
Human beings whom no one will love
They will never have a name
* Embryo: A Defense of Human Life, by RP George and C Tollefsen
Embryo-Destructive Research:
Promising Dream or Cynical Lie?
Welcome to the
Clone Wars . . .
“A long time ago, in a fertility
lab far away . . .”
 Louise Joy Brown was born
 July 25, 1978 (Great Britain)
 Beginning of modern reproductive
technologies
 Ethical oversight was minimal
Assisted Reproductive Technology
 in vitro fertilization (IVF)
 hyperstimulation of ovaries with powerful hormones
 follow progress with ultrasound
 harvest eggs, then fertilize some or all
 5 day development of embryos
 implantation of 2-4 embryos
 freezing of excess remaining embryos
“Left-Over” Embryos
 Frozen Embryos
 How many embryos in cryopreservation canisters?
 U.S. alone: 600,000
 Worldwide: who really knows?
 Basis of a contentious national debate
 Source of embryonic stem cells
 Used to potentially grow new tissues and organs
 May help treat chronic diseases
 Diabetes, Parkinson’s, heart disease, spinal cord injuries
The Rest of the Story
 How many embryos are actually available?
 Only a small % of the 600K could be used for research
 80% are still held for possible future implantation
 10% are donated for implantation in others
 Only 10% available for research
 10% is not enough!
 Therefore, embryo-destructive research is a “black
hole”  human cloning
Building the Concept of Personhood
 Person: A member of the moral community
(Beckwith).
 Implies:
 Value
 Inviolability
 Potential Candidates:
 (Some or all) human beings
 God and purely spiritual beings
 Intelligent Martians (if they exist)
 Higher animals, “intelligent” robots (controversial)
Human Personhood
 Key question:
 Is the category “human person” coextensive with the
category “human being?”
 If yes, then there is no such thing as a human nonperson
 If no, then:


some human beings are not persons
(or at least) human personhood can exist in gradations or
degrees
Conception view of personhood
 A human being is a person from the moment of
conception and at every subsequent moment.
 Human personhood corresponds with biological
humanhood
 Moral value is intrinsic, and begins at the earliest
moment of biological life
The First Six Days of Life
Some Key Terms
 Gametes: sperm or egg
 Fertilization: union of sperm and egg
 Zygote: a “one-celled” embryo (right after fertilization)
 Embryo: up until 8 weeks of development
Three Clear Scientific Reasons:

The embryo is distinct

Not the same entity as gametes that led to it

Biological life begins here
 The embryo is human

From fertilization, 46 chromosomes

Genetic makeup of human beings

(“When does human life begin?” is not the question)
 The embryo is complete

“a whole living member” of our species in the earliest stage
of development

All that is needed: time and nutrition to grow into an adult
member of our species
Cloning Defined . . .
 The nucleus (containing the genetic code)is removed
from a somatic (body) cell (e.g., a skin cell)
 This is inserted into a human egg with its own DNA
removed (enucleated)
 Called somatic cell nuclear transfer (SCNT)
 Stimulated to grow by a chemical or electric signal
 This mimics natural fertilization
 The result looks very much like a human embryo
 If allowed to develop and implant, theoretically could
become a normal baby
Natural Fertilization
Somatic Cell Nuclear Transfer
Reproductive Cloning
 Cloning as a form of assisted reproductive technology,
like IVF
 The resulting baby would be a genetically identical
twin to the person whose DNA created it
 Examples?
 Exhibit A: Dolly
 Exhibit B: Has this been done
in humans?
Dr. Panayiotis Zavos
 2001: teamed up with Italian
embryologist Severino Antinori
 ten women lined up for clones
 never verified
 2004: claimed he implanted a cloned embryo into a 35
year-old woman
 clone of her husband
 never verified
 2006: claimed to have cloned and implanted into five
women
 one was a Briton
 never verified
 Now working in a “secret lab” in the Middle East
Why this is all so sick . . .
 Not even remotely safe
 Cloning Dolly took 277 attempts
 Dolly lived 6 years, euthanized after premature aging
 In humans, a huge toll of birth defects would result
 No responsible health organization, physicians group,
or reputable research institution favors rep. cloning
“Therapeutic” Cloning
The Heart of the Clone Wars:
 “Our intention is not to create cloned human beings,
but rather to make life-saving therapies for a wide
range of human disease conditions, including
diabetes, strokes, cancer, AIDS, and
neurodegenerative disorders such as Parkinson’s and
Alzheimer’s disease.”
 Robert Lanza, Advanced Cell Technology
 [We are] speaking as individuals and scientists. I’m
not an expert in ethics.
 Michael West, President, Advanced Cell Technology
Human cloning has only been
done once . . .
 Dr. Samuel Wood, January, 2008
 Californian research company Stemagen
 Used DNA from his own skin cells
Ethical Objections
 “Therapeutic Cloning” is a euphemism
 There are currently no therapies available
 There are many complications
 “Research Cloning” is the more appropriate phrase
 Research cloning destroys human lives
 There are many other alternatives
 Adult stem cells therapies are numerous and successful
 These are currently being used to save lives
 New horizon: iPS cells
The Ohio Experience
March, 2008:
Testimony before the Senate Civil Justice Committee
Reflections . . .
 The attitude towards any restrictions on research
 OSU
 Cincinnati Children’s
 CWRU
 Politics and 8th grade biology
 “From your religious viewpoint . . .”
 The “half a loaf” plan
 How it all ended
Update: 2009
 Meeting last spring with research scientists
 The surprising results
 The present climate
Banning Cloning Should be
an easy “Slam-Dunk”
 94% of all Americans support a ban
 There is absolutely no reason to oppose it
 A ban would send a clear signal to the people of Ohio
that there are some lines we should not cross
 If hospitals and scientists support a ban, this would
encourage donors and patients alike
 A good result for everyone
 This is a battle we should win
After all, the
Real “Force”
is With Us
Bibliography
 Condic ML, “Life: Defining the Beginning by the End,” First Things,




May, 2003 (link).
George RP & C Tollefsen, Embryo: A Defense of Human Life,
Doubleday, 2008.
Kreeft P, Human Personhood Begins at Conception, Castello Institute
of Stafford, Stafford, Virginia, 1997, (link).
Lee P & RP George, "The First Fourteen Days of Human Life," The New
Atlantis, Number 13, Summer 2006, pp. 61-67 (link).
Sullivan DM, “The Conception View of Personhood,” Ethics and
Medicine 19:1, 2003 (link).
Dennis M. Sullivan, MD, MA (Ethics)
Professor of Biology
Director, Center for Bioethics
Cedarville University
Center Web site:
www.cedarville.edu/bioethics
E-mail: [email protected]