

Man's eye saved by stem cells - taranfx
http://www.channel4.com/news/articles/science_technology/manaposs+eye+saved+by+stem+cells/3474737

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jacquesm
I wonder if those that blindly (pun intended) jumped on the 'no to stemcell
research' bandwagon a few years ago are already feeling a bit guilty or not.

The obvious possibilities of stem cell research were so vast that I was really
surprised at the level of support this Luddite stance received.

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AndrewHampton
I think most of the people on the 'no to stemcell research' bandwagon are more
specifically against embryonic stem cell research. This was accomplished using
'adult stem cells' from the man's other eye, which I don't _think_ many people
have an issue with.

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jacquesm
The stem cell research ban was technically on embryonic stem cell research
only (and from what I remember lines that already existed were 'exempt'), but
that does not change the fact that researchers using any stemcells at all
found their chances of getting funding drastically reduced.

There are afaik three sources of stem cells, adult ones, embryonic ones and
stem cells taken from umbilical cord tissue.

The ban itself stemmed from a very bad mixing up of religion and politics.

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prewett
As I understand it, embryonic stem cells (the ones that were banned) are
acquired by basically destroying a human embryo. I don't think it is "very bad
mixing up of religion and politics" to ban destroying what can be considered a
life. You might disagree whether the life is worth saving, but the embryo is
undeniably living. You might disagree as to whether a human embryo is human
enough that killing it constitutes killing a person. But if one's religious
ethics are that killing an embryo == killing a person, I think it is
reasonable politics to ban embryonic stem cells.

EDIT: clarity

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jacquesm
As I understand it those embryos were going to be destroyed anyway. The
difference being that now they might be used to further research. It's not
like the embryos were created to be destroyed for research, they're a by-
product of fertility enhancing procedures.

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patio11
In the interest of empathizing with the other side, here's what this sounds
like if you're pro-life: "As I understand it, there were Africans who were
going to die in Africa anyhow. The difference being that now we might get some
use out of them. Its not like we went to Africa for the slaves, they're just a
by-product of the resource exploitation."

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jacquesm
That's one of the most warped analogies that I've ever seen.

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bd_at_rivenhill
I'd personally prefer to have a new cornea rather than Lasik, but I hear that
recovery periods for this type of procedure are fairly long. Hopefully that
will improve.

