Ethical Guidelines on Lab-Grown Embryos Beg for
Revamping, Scientists Say, it
may be time to update the currently observed 14-day rule as a benchmark
This article was
about synthetic biology and the growing of an embryo that passed the 14-day
observation mark. Which is usually the time when the embryo is developing
tissues and right before they start developing a nervous system. The article
also explained that during this time it is the last time an embryo can divide. The
article goes on with George Church who is a synthetic biologist and geneticist,
he explains what he does in his lab. For example, growing organoids to function
like hearts, lungs, kidneys, and the brain. He uses them to test out drugs and
hoping one day they can be used for failing body parts. The idea of going over
the 14-day mark triggered some opinions from the bioethicists. Insoo Hyun for
example says, “Between synthetic biology and artificial intelligence a
future might not be far off in which we have to ask whether something created
in a lab is truly alive.” He goes on by saying that we are getting into experiments
that question what it means, to be human
and what it means to deserve moral respect. That being said there are some
committees that regulate embryonic research, but lit it states in the article, “Synthetic biology falls between the cracks,
though, with no one having such clear authority to regulate the work,” Finally
the article comes to a close with church saying that from his experience he has
seen more problems come from under regulation as oppose to overregulation.
I found this article really interesting, because of a few
reasons. The first being that synthetic biology is growing day by day. New
discoveries for synthetic organs that are being used was really interesting. Reading
other scientist views on synthetic biology was interesting as well because, not
all of them believe this new discovery is not ethical. I really liked reading
this article, I liked seeing scientist tell share their own opinions and
backing them up as well.
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ReplyDeleteThis topic of stopping embryonic development at the 14-day benchmark is fascinating to me. I didn't realize we were growing synthesized embryos!! I knew we were doing this with organs, but not whole life forms. It's interesting to me that science is often slowed due to the belief we might be stepping out of bounds, but to me that makes no sense. What is the difference between life made from metals, lighting, and evolution at the beginning of time or in a science lab? What is the difference between a God creating life, and his children following that pattern? I guess I need to understand better the comment that, more problems come from under-regulation verses over-regulation of science( said by Church). This study is also interesting because people want to adopt embryos and if we knew they were fully functional, this might be an outlet.- JLF
ReplyDeleteWow. My mind was blown to a whole other dimension. That is a great question from the comment before. This life is a life of learning and experiencing change. However, I believe that God has created all things for a specific purpose such as creating life at a certain time and place in a marriage. I also think that some scientific discovers have also improved our lives in some ways like medication and such. Maybe I am not understanding this article completely. Are they trying to grow a human being fully outside the mother's womb or prepare to be inserted into a mother's womb for full development. For those that have a hard time becoming pregnant I think that it is a wonderful thing what scientist have come up with but to develop an embryo fully (synthetically) I think is unethical and was not the way that God intended it to be. This is just my opinion to your very thought provoking questions. Thank you.
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