Stem cell research.

[clax]

I do not understand the controversy over stem cell research. many people say I should be opposed to it because i am a Christian, but I don't understand why. I know the general idea that we take a sperm and an egg and make an embryo much like the first steps in the formation of a baby. I am not sure if this happens in the womb, or in a test tube, i would like to research it but so much pro and con political controversy tends to get in the way.

Is stem cell research progressing, is it possible to grow a new liver, or is it not that progressed yet.

what exactly is the "Christian" or moral objection based on?

 

[zoldos]

From what I understand, people are afraid we will use stem cells to clone humans and attempt to "play God". But yes, it has amazing potential, such as growing new organs, or curing cancer, but until people put aside their fears, it won't happen.

 

[reader]

To be against to any scientific study, just meaningless. Especially with religious reasons. İt reminds the very old debate on the shape of the world.

 

[David]

From what I understand, people are afraid we will use stem cells to clone humans and attempt to "play God". But yes, it has amazing potential, such as growing new organs, or curing cancer, but until people put aside their fears, it won't happen.

When I meet people like that, I remand them that God created us in his image and gave us dominion over the physical world. We're supposed to be playing God. We're his psychical representatives created after the failed angel rebellion.

 

[myp]

When I meet people like that, I remand them that God created us in his image and gave us dominion over the physical world. We're supposed to be playing God. We're his psychical representatives created after the failed angel rebellion.

What God? If we can't even agree on whether God exists then how can you unilaterally even say it is or is not a role of God?

 

[David]

What God? If we can't even agree on whether God exists then how can you unilaterally even say it is or is not a role of God?

If you're arguing with an anti-intellectual theocrat (especially a creationist), making logical, scientific arguments is going to get you nowhere. Thus I use an argument they can't ignore and which they will understand.

 

[zoldos]

When I meet people like that, I remand them that God created us in his image and gave us dominion over the physical world. We're supposed to be playing God. We're his psychical representatives created after the failed angel rebellion.

So you agree with cloning humans? Making countless copies of ourselves which would undoubtedly become slaves?

 

[clax]

When I meet people like that, I remand them that God created us in his image and gave us dominion over the physical world. We're supposed to be playing God. We're his psychical representatives created after the failed angel rebellion.

interesting take, i never tought about it that way, if we have dominion over the life on this planet, we have dominion over our own reproductive matter. Soudns silly, but i never thought about it that way.

 

[clax]

So you agree with cloning humans? Making countless copies of ourselves which would undoubtedly become slaves?

Perhapse we could clone a person's body, my thoughts is why, more fun to do it the old fasioned way, but seriously; if you clone a body do you clone a mind. So if we were to copy say einstine, who is to say the clone would retain his knowledge? If you are copying DNA structures are you also copying the experiances the way he experianced them, is that genetic, would the clone be an infant mentally or even physically. Science fiction has made it into a strange thing where cloning is like imortality.

I am interested in the science of possably cloning a body. The basic ethics should be first do no harm. If a clone can't be a complete copy, there is no harm done.

 

[clax]

If you're arguing with an anti-intellectual theocrat (especially a creationist), making logical, scientific arguments is going to get you nowhere. Thus I use an argument they can't ignore and which they will understand.

That is true, beliefs are not logical.

 

[clax]

To be against to any scientific study, just meaningless. Especially with religious reasons. İt reminds the very old debate on the shape of the world.

That is not quite true, i agree science shouldn't be halted by religious ideas, my basis for that is biblical as well as curiosity driven..

But at some point ethics are a consideration. In the case of stem cell research i don't see any ethical issues, or religious issues.

The only science I know well is psychology and physics. Ethics plays a huge role in psych, not as big in physics. Look at povlov and his experiment with association, ethical boundries are questioned.

Ethics should be there but should be questioned

 

[clax]

What God? If we can't even agree on whether God exists then how can you unilaterally even say it is or is not a role of God?

Being that people can not create life forms, outside of reproduction, the theory that life is created falls to unknown, and any unknown will fall to God by believers

 

[David]

Being that people can not create life forms, outside of reproduction, the theory that life is created falls to unknown, and any unknown will fall to God by believers

Didn't we (I say we because I don't remember the relevant nation) create synthetic DNA last year? I know for a fact the Brits created human sperm using skin cells.

 

[David]

So you agree with cloning humans? Making countless copies of ourselves which would undoubtedly become slaves?

Human clones, with accelerated growth to puberty and slow aging afterwards (some genetic engineering and growth hormones could accomplish it) and lacking higher brain functions (working brain stem with normal nerve cells to fill the brain cavity) could be an answer to death. Just take a human brain and transplant it into a younger, healthier clone when age or injury causes the original body to be irreversibly damaged. Keep some stem cells from the original body and harvest from cell cultures for every clone and you could prevent or at least delay the onset of transcription errors that would occur from cloning clones.

We already have the tech and medical knowledge, we need only lift the bans of human cloning and genetic engineering and master brain transplants (we could ask organ donors to include their whole body and practice using brain dead donors and paralytics lacking brain damage).

 

[myp]

There are a lot of moral issues with cloning. I do not support it for humans at the moment- "The Island" is not something we want. Also, the slower aging and other characteristics you describe are a while off.

 

[clax]

Didn't we (I say we because I don't remember the relevant nation) create synthetic DNA last year? I know for a fact the Brits created human sperm using skin cells.

DNA, is not really life, it is substance of life but it is a molocule, how many genes did they create, I am interested.

Did they create a sperm, or make it out of something that currently exists. I am not saying it is not true, i just have never heard about this.

Intresting question, is sperm a life form or is it tissue? I am asking what you think, not sure that reproductive matter is nessaceraly life.

 

[clax]

There are a lot of moral issues with cloning. I do not support it for humans at the moment- "The Island" is not something we want. Also, the slower aging and other characteristics you describe are a while off.

I have more questions about it really being possable to clone a person, and the clone being the same person, morality aside. Is this just a notion of science fiction.

If I was to clone tom cruise and take his clone home and raise it, it would no doubt have different experiances, which would make it a different individual, so did i really clone someone, or did i just create a copy of his body? Is that all cloning is?

I don't think people should worry about such a thing, if the possability is not really there yet.

 

[David]

I have more questions about it really being possable to clone a person, and the clone being the same person, morality aside. Is this just a notion of science fiction.

If I was to clone tom cruise and take his clone home and raise it, it would no doubt have different experiances, which would make it a different individual, so did i really clone someone, or did i just create a copy of his body? Is that all cloning is?

I don't think people should worry about such a thing, if the possability is not really there yet.

Humans have been cloned (in China I think), they've simply been killed during the embryonic stage as actually having a clone running around wasn't the point, just proof of concept and genetic info.

And yes, clones are just copies. You'd have to copy the mind of the original (or put the original's mind in the clone) to have a perfect replica.

 

[myp]

I have more questions about it really being possable to clone a person, and the clone being the same person, morality aside. Is this just a notion of science fiction.

If I was to clone tom cruise and take his clone home and raise it, it would no doubt have different experiances, which would make it a different individual, so did i really clone someone, or did i just create a copy of his body? Is that all cloning is?

I don't think people should worry about such a thing, if the possability is not really there yet.

By clones people mean genetically identical copies.

 

[clax]

By clones people mean genetically identical copies.

I don't know if that is the definition, and my dictionary app isn't working, all i really get from the web is a genetic copy, created by science. So not sure