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Weird Science
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Posted by: laborat
Things you can think about while I go down and apply for a patent on my individual cell structure:
One of the hot topics shoved forth into the every day consciousness of disinterested americans has been stem cell research. That is the controversy.
The research is the closest thing to discovering our fountain of youth. Stem cells are the putty that have shaped every organ and cell in our bodies, and clinical results so far show a potential to repair damaged tissues with immortal cells.
This seems to have made it easier to disgard the fact that the stem cells are taken from embreyos. And embreyos are considered by many to be human.
Human as in possessing a soul, being sentient, able to feel pain and suffering...The feelings on both side of the debate are feverish and fervent, as emotions weigh in against reason.
Whether you consider yourself liberal or conservative, seems to have no actual influence on how you feel about things that fly in the faith of your belief in God.
A lot of people out there, think Science is tampering in things it shouldn't even consider. While I am not one of them, That doesn't stop a certain nagging hesitancy to disregard that an Act of God(40 days and 40 nights) is possible, and that Science is somehow, dropping the ball. Why do I feel this way? Simple...
Wierd Science. Used to be, or a least it was always portrayed in the movies, that even the MAD scientists were trying to benefit mankind with all their wierd science.
The Scientist of today, somehow becoming indentured to drug companies, like doctors to HMO's seem more like accountants or grant writers than researchers. This often means the Ethics of yesterday are sacrificed to the Ethics of today--attending to the bottom line and keeping stockholders happy.
That we see such titan struggles from time to time is because its a Billion Dollar industry with the potential to make even more! DNA registry, enzyme ownership and patenting medical procedures and drug formulas seem to show that Science thinks it has the rights to our bodies. Or at least the Chemicals in our bodies.
I find it disturbing that immortality will come at the loss of the freedoms that immortality always stood for. That someone could decide who lives or dies by whether they decide to release the medicines that they manufacture, is a sign that Science has disregarded some of its previously thought benevolence to Humanity.
This thing with Stem Cell research is just another sign that Science is getting too big for it's grants:
A Clinical test subject had to take his researchers to court because they patented an anti-body in his blood without his permission or knowledge.
An unnamed American Corporation/Drug Company was convicted and fined behind closed doors in the World court for using Herbicides on a rivals rare plant patch in the Amazon Rain Forest.
Even more disturbing. if not outright scary, is that one independent researcher, not even beholden to government grants, created it's own embryos in the lab to extract the stems cells from. While they debate Health Care and Campaign Reform in Congress, no laws apparently cover rights of things created, or extracted from a living body, or synthesized in a lab. That mosquito in the amber in Jurassic Park had no rights to it's blood of a dinosaur, when it came to clinical research. This goes for Embryos too. Stem Cells are in the Public Domain. At least until the Patent is Approved.
No word from the people that bomb abortion clinics whether they will try something similar to these embryo labs. Or maybe somebody from those Animal Rights groups could throw a pie or something. Did somebody say Cloned Sheep? No, they said "It sucketh Goats!" Man, that's Weird Science.
Posted by: EOT(US)
But it made for "good reading" hehe
Posted by: Chako
That has always been a problem with science. Even in the first hours of its inception (possibly before that), science has always been a double edged sword. It can heal and cut at the same time depending on how it is used. Ethical questions are not an issue of today, the science of old has always had to deal with ethical questions, particularly in the field of medicine and human study.
It is true that large corporations now pull the scientist strings instead of the government of days past. It is all a race for profits, and ethics have come a distant second, or maybe a third, or fifth, etc… The basic fact is this, it all depends on funding. Research cost lots of money. It is a very competitive environment, often times, seeing scientist racing to publish papers, thesis, and scientific documents en mass. Sometime funding is based on quantity and sometimes it is based on quality. Regardless, it is all too easy for the scientist to forget how their research can affect others. Often times, it is one corporation against another. Many such corporate wars have happened and are still going on today. They race to put out the next drug that will reek in the cash. The bottom line for any corporation is profits.
Ethics is not a money maker. Many corporations are now trade marking anything and everything that they can get their hands on. Competition is this fierce, and lets face it, the International community lets them get away with this madness. It is a mad world when a mouse can be trade marked because it was created in the lab by a simple procedure of gene splicing, thereby making it corporate property. Where will this stop….who knows. Maybe in the near future, little Jimmy and Jennifer may walk around with a nice R or TM on their foreheads. That is the scary thing, and it is not just relegated to the fields of science either. Try and put up a web site with a mouse on it, and you might have Disney knocking on your door for brand infringement. This is how ridiculous our world has come to.
As for research in trying to make people live longer….well….I am against that. Overpopulation will be my main argument against it. Suffice it to say that funding could go towards better agendas then youth. As is my wont these days, I shall post a few interesting sites for those who may want to read further on stem cell research. Must warn you though...this can be very dry stuff.
A primer on the topic.
http://www.nih.gov/news/stemcell/primer.htm
Some ethical questions
http://www.aaas.org/spp/dspp/sfrl/p...s/stem/main.htm
Labby, as always, a darn good article.
Posted by: redwench
well, personally i want to live a very long and healthy life. 500 years would be good.
overpopulation is already a problem, and its time we all took responsiblity for it on an individual basis. which means no more than 2 biological offspring. recent studies have shown that larger families result in less successful children, however it was measured. education, money, grades all were lower in children from larger families, believed to be the result of less resources per child. (not just money, but attention)
and yes, ill help. im not having any children. 
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