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“Death creates an economy that makes life precious. One of the ways of naming that preciousness is friendship.”
Stanley Hauerwas

Stem Cell Research – what’s the big deal?

Megan Best

Christians who voice ethical opposition to Embryonic Stem (ES) Cell research have often aroused sentiments of frustration and scorn in their fellow citizens.  Such views have been presented as scientifically ignorant and heartless impediments to the development of therapies for the sick. Yet the ranks of those who oppose ES cell research include believers and non-believes alike - noted scientists, politicians and doctors, as well as members of the disabled communities and the supposed beneficiaries of the research. So what is going on?

In this article I would like to present a summary of the arguments that are used in opposition to destructive embryo research and ES cell research, as well as a critique of those in favour. I hold my views to be logical and scientific, as well as reflecting my ethical standpoint. I do this not only to explain my position, but also in the hope that as community discussion of this matter becomes more sophisticated, ethical decisions will be better informed. Ultimate decisions by our society may not change, but at least we will know that they have been made in light of the facts involved.

I recognise that there are many views on this topic, even amongst Christians, but I will give you my views and explain my reasoning. One problem with a topic such as stem cell research, however, is that in order to understand the ethics, we need first to understand the science. 

  in embryological terms, at conception, we have a member of the species homo sapiens  

 

I will therefore start with a brief biology lesson, followed by a discussion of the science. We will then consider the various aspects of the public debate in Australia both for and against stem cells before finally examining the ethics.

Biology

Human conception begins with fertilisation of an egg  by a sperm, creating a single-celled organism called a zygote. From this point, development is a continuum through pregnancy and childhood to adulthood. All the genetic material (DNA) required for full maturity of the human being is present in the zygote. Therefore in embryological terms, at conception, we have a member of the species homo sapiens.

First cell division occurs within 24 hours of conception, and cellular division continues while the embryo travels down the fallopian tube towards the uterus.  At day five or six, the basis for the developing baby and placenta, a blastocyst (a hollow ball of cells with an inner cell mass) is formed.

Implantation begins at the end of the first week, when the embryo attaches to the uterine wall and the mother’s blood supply starts to nourish it. This doesn’t always occur successfully, in which case an early miscarriage is said to have taken place.

There is dramatic development over the next six weeks, and by week seven the embryo measures 1.3 cm in length and all essential organs have begun to develop. After eight weeks we start to use the term foetus instead of embryo, but clearly even while still at the embryo stage, an enormous amount of development has taken place. We are dealing with a growing human being when we talk about embryos.

This point is no longer contested since the last legislative debate in Australia. Informed observers accept that we are dealing with embryonic humans. It is now a matter of how we are to treat them.

Human embryos in the laboratory

Human embryos were first created and grown in the laboratory as part of research, which led to the development of assisted reproductive technologies. In 1978 Louise Brown, the first test tube baby, was born in the United Kingdom. More than three million children have been born from in-vitro fertilisation (IVF) around the world since then.

IVF was originally intended as a medical treatment for couples who were unable to conceive naturally, and it was a wonderful development for those suffering from medical infertility. Services have been greatly supplemented since then, but despite all the advances, success rates have always been low. Those running IVF clinics obviously want to do everything they can to help infertile patients, and in attempts to improve the success rates, several practises have developed.  
  … surplus embryos often represent an unforeseen ethical problem
  

Clinics generally encourage couples to allow the creation of as many embryos as possible after egg collection from the woman’s body. Egg collection is an invasive and expensive procedure with the potential for serious side-effects. You don’t want to do it more than you have to. But obviously, the more times you place an embryo in the womb, the better the chance of a pregnancy developing. There is no formula to accurately predict how many embryos are needed to produce one live birth, hence many clinics suggest the more embryos the better. Just in case you need them.

When the couple have the number of children they want or stop treatment for another reason, they may find that they have surplus embryos. These often represent an unforeseen ethical problem for the parents. It is thought that there are hundreds of thousands of frozen excess human embryos around the world at this time.

Consider the situation as it has developed: scientists could see that the number of surplus embryos was adding up. Many questions concerning early human development remained unanswered. Moves were made to allow experimentation on human embryos in some countries. It is a mark of the special status human embryos hold in our community that destructive research on embryonic humans is still only allowed up to fourteen days of life and requires legal approval.

In the first instance, a lot of the experimentation was aimed at improving assisted reproduction techniques, but then in 1998, human embryonic stem cells were isolated.

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