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Lord Winston, the current president of the British Association for the Advancement of Science, warns of embryonic stem cell hype.

[Lord Winston] fears a backlash if science fails to deliver on some of the "hype" around the cells - as he believes may happen. He says the notion that a host of cures for serious, degenerative disorders are just around the corner is fanciful. However, a Cambridge University stem cell researcher said he was certain the work would lead to clinical benefits. Lord Winston believes some of the uncertainties need to be emphasised. "Both in Britain and America, huge publicity has been given to stem cells, particularly embryonic stem cells, and the potential they offer," he will say in his presidential address at the British Association's Science Festival in Dublin on Monday. "Of course, the study of stem cells is one of the most exciting areas in biology but I think it is unlikely that embryonic stem cells are likely to be useful in healthcare for a long time."

Keeping reality distinct from the hype is crucial. If people believe embryonic stem cells can save their sick child, the embryo vs sick child decision will be an easy one for most, but to what effect? ProLife Blogs argues that the "language of rights" cannot frame the stem cell debate.

Rather than ‘competing rights’ the heart of this issue is really over the dehumanization of humanity. But let’s be very clear about what that means. Being sick, suffering and even dying do not, in any way, make a person less human. My neighbor with cancer is not less of a human because of the illness she suffers from. A person with Parkinson’s does not become less and less human as the disease progresses. And death, rather than dehumanizing, is, in truth, one of the defining characteristics of our humanity. These things, as awful as they are, are part and parcel of being human. In a very true way, and a way that is often impossible to articulate, suffering is also a hallmark of being human. Suffering never dehumanizes us, rather, it is how people treat us that leads to dehumanization. In that respect, creating a class of humans whose sole function will be to act as objects of our will is the very definition of dehumanizing. It is especially bothersome when that class is made up of embryos- the very beginning of human life. When we manufacture and manipulate the beginning of human life to make it serve our ends we are forever changed. No society that allows such use of humans can remain free from the dehumanizing effect. If we become logically and morally comfortable with destroying “left-over” five-day old blastocysts from IVF clinics, what will stop us from creating embryos for the sole purpose of destroying them? What will logically stop us from doing the same thing to 15-day-old embryos or 90-day-old fetuses? How will we stop the train? In a very real way our freedom is lost. Once we become comfortable with the dehumanization of one group of people, we are all dehumanized.

The train has left the station, but we can determine its destination. It will be a rough ride. UPDATE: More from The Scotsman as well as Hyscience, Truth and Action, Latino Blog and ProLife Blogs (ProLife Blogs Trackbacks appear to be broken).

This entry was posted on Monday, September 5th, 2005 at 12:42 PM and is filed under Medicine, Public Square, Sanctity of Life. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Responses are currently closed, but you can trackback from your own site.