Fundamentalism versus science Opinion | The Hindu | July 27, 2006
http://www.hindu.com/2006/07/27/stories/2006072705551000.htm With a stroke of the pen, President George Bush has dealt a body blow to science and dashed the hopes of countless human beings round the world who look to human embryonic stem cell research as a possible cure for their afflictions. His veto of a Bill seeking to enlarge federal funding for the research underlines the fact that fundamentalist religious objections, not scientific considerations, matter when his administration deals with issues that seem to conflict with far-Right ideology. The notion that destruction of a few days' old embryo amounts to killing human life is not just flawed, it is over the top. The exact time when life begins is a debatable issue and scientists see such embryos as nothing more than a bunch of cells. More disturbing is the double standard adopted towards destruction of embryos most infertility clinics create extra embryos and many kill them with impunity. "Some [embryos] will not survive during long storage; others are destroyed," the American President admitted while announcing limited federal funding in 2001. The Bill had been passed by Congress with the express intent of providing more funds for research using the extra embryos. While remarking that "they [children born out of adopted embryos] remind us of that (sic) is lost when embryos are destroyed in the name of research," the President made no mention of embryos destroyed by infertility clinics. Even embryo adoption may not be able to prevent the destruction of all the surplus embryos. With the success rate of in vitro fertilisation hovering around 25 per cent even with the best of fresh embryos, using second-grade frozen ones will reduce the chances further. There is yet another compulsion to expand federal funding. Within a month of the President's 2001 announcement, the number of cell lines, created from extra embryos, found usable and hence eligible for federal funding was reduced from 60+ to 25; the number is now 21. Even these cell lines have limitations; they were grown on mouse- feeder cells and hence are likely to be contaminated. In a war against diseases, all possible approaches need to be explored and the best ones adopted. Pre-empting embryonic stem cell research using surplus embryos on the ground that "we can ensure that science serves the cause of humanity instead of the other way around," is nothing but dressing up fundamentalist Christian dogma in pseudo- humanist clothes. Derivation of new cell lines is legal in the U.S., and many privately funded research projects are being pursued in some States and laboratories. But in a country that currently leads all others in such research, private funding can be no match for federal funding. With several countries permitting research on surplus embryos, the U.S. may find itself lagging behind when therapies become available. -- This is ZESTGlobal. Post articles on international affairs to [email protected] If you got this mail as a forward, subscribe to ZESTGlobal by sending a blank mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] OR, if you have a Yahoo! ID, by visiting http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ZESTGlobal/join/ Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ZESTGlobal/ <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
