Scientist and Ethicists Discuss Embryonic Stem Cell Research

KPBS | By KPBS Public Broadcasting

Published April 30, 2008 at 10:27 AM PDT

This story was published more than 16 years ago.

Do embryonic stem cells hold the key to regenerative medicine that will cure diseases? Are there other kinds of stem cells that can do the same but without the controversial use of embryos? Scientists

Tom Fudge: Stem cells, in theory, are the building blocks that can make us well. They have the potential to generate new human cells and tissues that can potentially cure a tremendous array of deadly illnesses. But in the U.S., research into stem cell medicine has been stymied on philosophical grounds. This is because the stem cells that have been viewed as the most valuable are embryonic stem cells. Using them means using and destroying embryos, and that has gotten the attention of the Right to Life movement. President Bush decided to put severe limits on federal funding of embryonic stem cell research back in 2001.

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You can learn more about the ethics of stem cell research at the Ethics Center's new monthly series beginning next Wednesday, May 7 at 5:30 p.m. at the Reuben H. Fleet Science Center in Balboa Park.

Guests

Michael Kalichman , neuroscientist, founder, and co-director of the Center for Ethics in Science and Technology.

Larry Hinman , professor of philosophy at the University of San Diego, and co-director of the Center for Ethics in Science and Technology.