UN Blocks Global Treaty Banning Cloning

[Theophylact]

From Wired:

A U.N. tradition of seeking broad international consensus in the drafting of treaties has set back a Bush administration campaign for a global ban on medical research on stem cells.

Washington, with backing from the U.S. anti-abortion movement, tried to push a resolution through a U.N committee on Thursday for the drafting of a treaty that would ban both the cloning of human beings and so-called "therapeutic" cloning, in which human cells are cloned for medical research. ...

Won't sign a treaty on global warming. Won't abide by an antimissile treaty. Won't sign a treaty for an International Criminal Court. But this is important!

[J-Excel]

Does stem cell research require human stem cells, or would closely related animal cells work for now? Can stem cells be cultured, and are cultured cells considered cloning?

I think a temporary ban is justified. This is so new that society's opinion on it's morality hasn't been determined. This goes way beyond the issues surrounding the morality of abortion. We've survived hundreds of thousands of years without stem cell research. A few more years while we sort out the implications isn't too much to ask for.

[Epidemic]

Ahhh But abortion definitely kills something with no return

But stem cells are already showing promise in tissue regeneration.

Heart attack damage can actually be reversed in with new tissue generation.

Stem cells also come in two varieties that I know of. Fetal and for lack of a better term adult. Stem cells can be refined from placent blood. Generally speaking other than convenience abortion serves no benefit to human kind at large but Stem cell research holds potential for reversing many neurological disorders, spinal injury repair.

It has a side benefit/detriment of being able to clone you the kid of your choice. (some people expand this to all sorts of furturistic scenarios. Like going to work one day and finding your copy there. But that is pretty much rediculous at this point)

I say we burn that bridge when we get to it.

If you abort a child something good might as well come of it's death, take that aborted medical waste out of the landfill and put it to some good ends.

[tony_j15]

Won't sign a treaty on global warming. Won't abide by an antimissile treaty. Won't sign a treaty for an International Criminal Court. But this is important!

Global warming is like the chicken screaming "the sky is falling". Antimissle treatys are worthless, ICC lets people get off the hook and takes too long. Stem cell research is a wrong step. Too many people consider it inhuman and adult stem cells(like from bone marrow) have shown more promise in the lab.

[Epidemic]

The global warming thing is an interesting topic. Personally I believe population is growing too fast and resources dwindling including aggricultrual land. With the lack of evidence to the contrary I think we should error on the side of the environment on this one. Global Voluntary Population management is the solution to environmental problems.

Originally posted by tony_j15

adult stem cells(like from bone marrow) have shown more promise in the lab.

At the moment. I am sure the guy who was mixing nitric acid and paper together thought the resulting compound burned too slow to be used as an explosive. Till the time when he tried to contain it. Point being that you do not always know what simple thing might make something work. And work better then it's predecessor.

Originally posted by tony_j15

Stem cell research is a wrong step. Too many people consider it inhuman

Many people viewed slavery is ok and other people viewed heat transplants as something against gods will.

I care little for what the masses think. Science should not be ruled by the masses. That is foolish.

"Had god meant us to fly he would have given us wings". late 19th early 20th centry logic but Pretty much a big duh these days.