The reality of human cloning

By Paul Stark In 2013, researchers at Oregon Health & Science University announced a major scientific breakthrough. They had, for the first time, successfully derived stem cells from cloned human embryos. Today, the creation and destruction of cloned embryos takes place in several laboratories around the country. Few people are aware of this research, the …

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Embryo Value Debated in Europe Too

  By Wesley J. Smith Pro embryo-destructive research activists are often so irrational. They claim than an embryo isn’t an embryo but merely a “bunch of cells.” Well, for the reductionist minded, so are they. They claim that an embryo is no different than the cells you kill when you brush your teeth. But embryos …

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“Therapeutic cloning” back on the boil

  By Michael Cook After a couple of years in hibernation, the notion of “therapeutic cloning” is once again in the headlines. The latest development comes from Shoukhrat Mitalipov, a Russian-educated researcher at Oregon Health and Science University. In a paper in Nature, his team reports that they have successfully created embryonic stem cells using …

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Mouse cloning advance raises specter of human cloning

  By Wesley J. Smith. I have long believed and argued that stem cell research is merely the opening stanza of a longer planned biotechnological symphony. What “the scientists” are really after is a reliable way to conduct human cloning. Without cloning, and you might get effective medical treatments from all kinds of stem cells–both …

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The Human Cloning Goal Behind Stem Cell Cures

  By Wesley J. Smith Buried deep in an encouraging story about another advance in turning skin cells into stem cells, we see more evidence of biotechnology’s ultimate human cloning goal. First, the good news. An acid bath may be able to replace viruses in transforming skin cells into stem cells that can become any …

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Not Wrong to Fund Research Based on Ethics

By Wesley J. Smith The embryonic stem cell and human cloning research debates are not “science” arguments, but rather, disputes over proper ethics in the pursuit of science. Supporters of ESCR think it isn’t wrong to destroy embryos for use in research. Opponents disagree and also suggest that it would be great if ways were …

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Human Cloning Obfuscation 7: No Spin in Science Journals

By Wesley J. Smith The mainstream media–under the influence of spin from “the scientists”–has been playing a game of hide-the-ball about the recent first human cloning success. For example, the LA Times threw a lot of dirt in the air by calling the success merely an “incremental step” toward human cloning. No. It. Was. Human …

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Human Cloning Obfuscation 5: Monkey Cloned Pregnancy

By Wesley J. Smith Thanks to Brendan P. Foht, over at The Corner, for showing that it was misleading to claim that SCNT [somatic cell nuclear transfer] human cloning could not lead to a human pregnancy because there have been no successful cloned monkey pregnancies. But there have been cloned monkey pregnancies, with one embryo …

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Cloning Obfuscation 2 [and 3 & 4]

By Wesley J. Smith The junk biology is flying in the media’s descriptions of the now accomplished human cloning. This next example comes from the Wall Street Journal’s Gautam Naik.  From the ridiculously titled, “Experiment Brings Human Cloning One Step Closer:” Scientists have used cloning technology to transform human skin cells into embryonic stem cells, …

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California Institute of Regenerative Medicine not reforming itself enough, or fast enough, panel says

By Dave Andrusko When last we visited the California Institute of Regenerative Medicine,  the CIRM was under tremendous pressure to become more “accountable” and more “transparent,” especially when it came to what pro-life bioethicist Wesley Smith has called “institutional back scratching.” In case you’ve missed our many stories about CIRM, it was established after voters …

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Nobel Prize Scientist Supports Human Cloning

By Wesley J. Smith James Watson, the co-discoverer of the DNA double helix demonstrated that just because one is a brilliant scientist, that doesn’t mean he or she is also a good ethicist. [Editor’s note. Wesley links to an interview Watson gave in which Watson showed his eugenicist’s colors.] And now, we have another example: …

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