Human Cloning Foundation Underscores Study on Embryonic Death and Stem Cell Research

The Human Cloning Foundation (HCF)underscored the significance of a recent study ("Embryonic Death and the Creation of Human Embryonic Stem Cells," by Donald W. Landry and Howard A Zucker, American Society for Clinical Investigation) that said the application of ethical norms of organ donation to human embryonic stem cell research would provide a viable way around the great moral debate surrounding stem cell research.

"The study poses a critical question: if it is morally acceptable to donate the organs of a human being who has been declared morally dead to help others, shouldn't it also be morally acceptable to use embryos that are 'organismically dead' in stem cell research to help countless others?" said David Madrigal, HCF Spokesman.

The Landry/Zucker study notes that "a general consensus has been achieved on when life ends: life ends when the criteria for brain death are met," but that "the criteria for determining the death of the developing human before the onset of neural development have not been formulated."

However, the study notes that "if the condition of developing human life at the stage of a few-celled embryo is reconsidered, a significant fraction of embryos generated for in vitro fertilization (IVF), heretofore misclassified as nonviable, will be found to be organismically dead." In this instance, the study proposed that the ethical framework that applies to the transplant of organs from deceased adults "could be extended to cover obtaining stem cells from dead human embryos."

"We propose that the defining capacity of a 4- or 8-cell human embryo is continued and integrated cellular division, growth, and differentiation," said the study. "We further propose that an embryo that has irreversibly lost this capacity, even as its individual cells are alive, is properly considered organismically dead."

The study said that "approximately 60% of IVF embryos fail to meet criteria for viability and are rejected for uterine transfer" and may be considered
"organismically dead," but can still be used for stem cell research.

Reference: "Embryonic Death and the Creation of Human Embryonic Stem Cells," by Donald W. Landry and Howard A Zucker, American Society for Clinical Investigation

Contact: Mr. David Madrigal, Spokesman, Human Cloning Foundation
HumanCloning.David@gmail.com
www.humancloning.org