• Question: would you say using embryos is right when trying to cure parkinsons desease?

    Asked by hannahplik to Ed, Katie, Sam, Steve, Vera on 22 Jun 2011.
    • Photo: Steven Daly

      Steven Daly answered on 21 Jun 2011:

      That is a really tough question to answer, because it depends when you think life starts. I can honestly say i do not know what I actually think about it, because I can understadn the arguements from both sides.

    • Photo: Ed Morrison

      Ed Morrison answered on 21 Jun 2011:

      I don’t think scientists actually use whole embryos when doing studies to cure diseases. They do sometimes take some special cells called stem cells, then grow them separately. THis is a very tricky ethical issue, but stem cell research typically uses embryos that would otherwise die (e.g. extras created by in-vitro fertilisation), and that seems morally right to me. I would be less happy creating (human) embryos specifically to use in science.

    • Photo: Vera Weisbecker

      Vera Weisbecker answered on 21 Jun 2011:

      I completely agree with Ed. In addition, consider that in most countries it is legal to abort a fetus at 3 months pregnancy if it shows a high risk of being disabled. By that criterion, it should also be ok to use single cells from much tinier embryos for science.

    • Photo: Sam Tazzyman

      Sam Tazzyman answered on 22 Jun 2011:

      My grandfather died of Parkinson’s disease when I was a child, and I found his deterioration very emotionally difficult. But I agree with the others that I would not be too happy creating human embryos to use in science.

      I think in general that there is a case for a specific public body to debate these issues. At the moment it seems that scientists decide ethics issues on a rather ad hoc basis, and then frequently have to face misunderstanding and revulsion from the public. I think ethical questions in science should be debated democratically by society as a whole, because they affect all of us.

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