Thursday, February 22, 2007
It's Dolly Day!
A group of intellectually adventurous Scottish veterinarians from the Roslind Institute announced, ten years ago, that they had successfully cloned a sheep using the DNA from an adult animal. Dolly, as she was named (the DNA came from a breast cell!) created a storm of controversy and stoked fears of Frankenmonsters running amok.
Since then, except for a calvacade of kooks (remember the Raelians?) and liars (Hwang Woo-suk of Korea), nothing much has happened. Research continues, but no freakish creatures are ordering lattes at Starbucks. Mice have been cloned, but no primates. No human spare parts industry manufactures lungs or toes.
Politicians have tried to use fear-mongering to gain political advantages. It's the usual suspects: Brownback, Weldon, and other conservative Republicans have proposed bills to stop embryonic stem cell research, and President Bush vetoed legislation that would have expanded federal research funding. Perhaps the Democrats will try again, but I don't know if they have enough votes to override a presidential veto.
What we desperately need is a definition of when human life begins. And while religious input is important, some completely unverifiable notions, like "ensoulment," shouldn't be allowed to kill all scientific attempts to combat disease and improve the quality of life for millions of people around the world.
Dolly became ill and was eventually put down. The life of a sheep isn't worth much, but should Dolly's life have been in vain?
Since then, except for a calvacade of kooks (remember the Raelians?) and liars (Hwang Woo-suk of Korea), nothing much has happened. Research continues, but no freakish creatures are ordering lattes at Starbucks. Mice have been cloned, but no primates. No human spare parts industry manufactures lungs or toes.
Politicians have tried to use fear-mongering to gain political advantages. It's the usual suspects: Brownback, Weldon, and other conservative Republicans have proposed bills to stop embryonic stem cell research, and President Bush vetoed legislation that would have expanded federal research funding. Perhaps the Democrats will try again, but I don't know if they have enough votes to override a presidential veto.
What we desperately need is a definition of when human life begins. And while religious input is important, some completely unverifiable notions, like "ensoulment," shouldn't be allowed to kill all scientific attempts to combat disease and improve the quality of life for millions of people around the world.
Dolly became ill and was eventually put down. The life of a sheep isn't worth much, but should Dolly's life have been in vain?
