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| Q: | I am currently going back to school and doing a research essay in my Engligh class. I also have Multiple Schlerosis and am interested in what the churches' feelings are on non-embryonic research. I know and believe that the embryonic research is wrong, but what about others. Also seeing as there are other ways to obtain these cells why haven't I heard anyone bring this subject up. Letting people know that this could be valuable research and there are other ways to do this research without taking a life. | ||||||
| A: | The research being referenced is called stem cell research. Stem cells are considered the “building blocks” of life. Sources for stem cells are adult, umbilical cord blood, aborted fetuses, and embryos. Embryonic stem cell research has been receiving the lion’s share of media attention and most recently was the object of a California initiative passed by the voters. That initiative, Proposition 71, will finance billions of dollars for the next few years to experiment with embryonic stem cells. Christians, recognizing the life is already present at conception, are troubled by embryonic stem cell research because it presently involves the death of every human life while in its embryonic stage when the stem cells are extracted. Stem cells extracted from aborted babies in the fetal stage is equally troubling. What is often overlooked is some of the incredible progress made with adult and umbilical cord blood stem cells. While these are considered “less plastic” than embryonic stem cells, they have proven to have provided all of the research progress to-date in the stem cell arena. To learn more about stem cell research and the progress made in the use of adult and cord blood stem cells you can visit www.StemCellResearch.org Christian Life Resources, an agency affiliated with the WELS and ELS also has devoted a site to the topic and it can be found at: www.ClearlyCaring.com | ||||||
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