Chalk Another One Up (Stem Cells)

I want to say right now that I have never been against stem cell research. I've only been against the ways in which they were going about getting those stem cells. That is why I'm leaping for joy today as CNN reports that a new method has been introduced that would not hurt the embryo in the process! ...

Scientists at Advanced Cell devised a clever means of piggybacking on existing fertility treatments to avoid the creation, manipulation or destruction of embryos specifically for the production of stem cells. The fertility procedure, known as preimplantation genetic diagnosis, or PGD, is used when parents want to avoid having a child with a lethal or severely debilitating birth defect. About 1,000 such procedures are performed each year in the United States.

PGD begins with in vitro fertilization to produce numerous embryos. At a very early stage of development, when the embryos are no more than a ball of eight to 10 cells, a technician extracts a single cell from each one. The extracted cells are tested for genetic disorders, and those free of defect are then implanted in the mother in the hope that will develop.

The new stem cell production method takes a cell extracted during PGD and allows it to divide. One of the two resulting cells is genetically tested as in normal PGD; the other is cultured to encourage the development of stem cells.

Wow! I understand that this procedure isn't 100% certain to not cause problems to the embryo they extract from. However, it is just one more procedure added to a growing list of potential ways to get the stem cells we need for research without taking human life.

Let's continue to pray that more and more efficient ways are developed. This way, the world will have no choice but to discard their current methods and choose a more humane one.

My Blog Links
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Adopt a Snowflake
The President's Veto
More on the Stem Cells

External Link
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CNN