PRESS RELEASE

Release Date: October 28, 2005

Statement on Recent Developments in Alternative Methods for Obtaining Pluripotent Stem Cells

Chicago, Illinois - October 28, 2005 - The Center for Bioethics and Human Dignity (CBHD) applauds creative, ethical thinking in the search for new techniques for producing stem cells without harming human embryos.

Two animal studies recently presented in Nature may shed helpful light on research processes that might potentially provide therapeutic benefit without ethical compromise. We support appropriate and ethical animal experimentation to explore such methods while recognizing that the ethics of application to humans is another matter altogether.

Scientific inquiry must begin with ethical principles and operate within moral boundaries. This is the only way that public consensus will be achieved in these controversial areas. Stem cell research raises important biological, philosophical, and theological questions that require extended multidisciplinary discussions in appropriate international forums.

Issues we must consider include:

--Have recent developments really changed how we define the embryo?
--What are the ethics surrounding egg donation and harvesting?
--Where should the relational context of procreation come in to all of this?

In short, how do we best uphold life, respect human dignity, and steward creation? These issues are too important to ignore. CBHD welcomes the opportunity this research affords to advance this crucial dialogue.

For Interviews with Center Personnel

Contact Sarah Flashing, Director of Public Relations, at 847-317-4097, or by email at sflashing@cbhd.org 

About The Center for Bioethics and Human Dignity

The Center for Bioethics and Human Dignity is a 501(c)(3) non-profit international center located just north of Chicago, Illinois. Its mission is to protect human dignity by developing reasoned perspectives on all of today’s bioethical issues and to disseminate them to health care professionals, academia, cultural and church leaders, public policy makers, and the media.CBHD

Copyright 2005 by The Center for Bioethics and Human Dignity

The contents of this article do not necessarily reflect the opinions of CBHD, its staff, board or supporters. Permission to reprint granted as long as The Center for Bioethics and Human Dignity and the web address for this article is referenced.