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Dr. Robert P.
George
Director, James Madison Program; constitutional
law and jurisprudence Member, President's Counsil on Bioethics
Dr. George’s Background Information
- Current member, President’s Commission on Bioethics.
- Served as a presidential appointee on the US Commission
on Civil Rights from 1993 – 1998.
- He is a former Judicial Fellow at the Supreme Court
of the United States, where he received the 1990 Justice
Tom C. Clark Award.
- His most recent book is The Clash of Orthodoxies, published
by ISI Books.
- D.Phil, Oxford University; JD, Harvard University; BA,
Swarthmore College.
- Dr. George will present scientific and ethical reasons
why research requiring the killing of human embryos should
not be conducted.
Supports Adult Stem Cell Research
- Dr. George supports adult cell stem research from both
a scientific and ethical perspective.
- He cites successes in fat, muscle tissue, and umbilical
cord blood research that are scientifically sound and
present hope for curing certain diseases.
Ethical Objections to Embryonic Stem Cell Research
- The technology involves destroying human embryos at
the blasocyst stage to obtain pluripotent stem cells that
can morph into other types of bodily tissue.
- Dr. George advises that the destruction of human embryos
forces consideration of the questions, “Is the human
embryo a human being at an early developmental stage?”
and “Is it morally legitimate to treat human beings
in the embryonic stage as disposable research material?”
- Additionally, he notes that so-called therapeutic cloning
will require, hundreds of thousands of ova. His worry
is that this could may lead to the exploitation of poor
women, especially in developing countries who may be encouraged
to submit to superovulation procedures in order to sell
their eggs for money. He cautions that these procedures
could subject women to significant health risks.
- Cloning brings additional ethical considerations. Cloning
enables the creation of an embryo with a controlled genetic
make-up that is created to be destroyed so that its parts
can be harvested. This brings up the question, “If
a human being is going to die soon, why wouldn’t
we want to cross the line and harvest parts from other
vulnerable populations?”
Scientific Objections to Embryonic Stem Cell Research
& Cloning
- George advises that the use of “left over”
frozen embryos from in-vitro fertilization is ethically
dubious and of uncertain long-term scientific value.
- Dr. George disagrees with Sen. Frist’s (TN, Maj.
Leader) stand that embryos in frozen storage should be
used for research. George states, “Of the 400,000
(unused embryos) less than 3% can be used for biomedical
research. The parents must approve their release for use
in scientific research. “Many parents that don’t
have them (embryos) implanted, don’t want them destroyed”
and instead are hopeful that “others may want to
adopt (embryos)” George comments.
- Additionally, he notes that scientifically these “spares”
whose genetic make-up cannot be controlled – are
of little significant consequence in research. Most scientists
who wish to conduct embryonic research want to be able
to control the genetic constitution of the embryos they
are working with.
- He advises that this lack of genetic control leads to
the discussion of “therapeutic cloning” where
creation of a specific embryo “takes the roulette”
out of the genetic equation. Embryos are “made to
order.”
- George advises that since embryonic stem cell research
deals with cells that are flexible and therefore volatile
it is unlikely in the foreseeable future that embryonic
stem cells will be injected into human subjects for therapeutiv
purposes. The risk of tumor formation is too great.
- Furthermore the issue of cloning also brings up additional
complications that may outweigh the problem for which
it has been designed. An example of this being the creation
of Dolly the sheep – the sheep died prematurely
from arthritis and pulmonary disease.
New Scientific Techniques on the Horizon –
Non-Embryonic Entities
- New techniques to reprogram adult cells to an embryonic
cell are currently being researched and could make it
possible to generate pluripotent cells without the need
to kill embryos.
- In somatic cell nuclear transfer the genetic material
from an ordinary adult cell’s (i.e., skin cell)
genetic core (DNA) is removed. Next, an egg cell is taken
with a technique called super ovulation and the nucleus
is removed. It is then replaced with the material from
the somatic cell and given an electric charge –
in hopes of generating an embryo that could be a source
of pluripotent stem cells.
- Another possible source of pluripotent cells would involve
the artificial creation of entities resembling teratomas
or complete hydatidiform moles. The somatic cell nuclear
transfer procedure might be used for this purpose. If
it could be perfected, we would have another possible
source of pluripotent cells that would not involve the
ethical problem of killing embryonic human beings. The
entities created would have certain qualities that resemble
embryos early on (as do teratomas and hydatidiform moles)
but they would lack (as teratomas and moles do) the “development
trajectory of a human being.”
Marie Tasy
Public & Legislative Affairs Director,
NJ Right to Life
In Favor of Adult Stem Cell Research
- Tasy advises that Right to Life (RTL) is in favor of
adult stem cell research.
- She cites promising research with individuals suffering
from spinal cord injury, as well as positive results using
cells from muscle, fat and bone in adults.
- Tasy advises that she supports adult stem cell research
because a variety of tissue can be used and it “doesn’t
mean killing the donor.”
Case Against Embryonic Stem Cell Research
- Marie states that to date no embryonic stem cell research
has been performed using human clinical trials.
- She advises that when embryonic stem cells have been
used in mice the results have yielded cancerous tumor
growth, immune system rejection, and the development of
abnormal cell structures.
- RTL feels that the research claims by scientists and
politicians have been exploitive and given people a false
sense of hope.
- Additionally, she notes that much of the research is
being conducted with private money. She contends that
taxpayers do not want to pay for this type of research.
Moral Issues Concerning Embryonic Research &
Therapeutic Cloning
- “We don’t believe that human beings should
be killed for research and shouldn’t be created
for the purpose of lethal destruction.”
- When a sperm and egg meet it becomes a human being.
- Therapeutic cloning is an “exploitation of a woman’s
body.” Hundreds of eggs will be needed to run trials
and it is unclear if the procedure of harvesting the eggs
may have long-term harmful effects. Additionally, Tasy
advises that poor women may sell their eggs to get money.
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