I don't know how many of you are up to daye with this, however, the debate has been raging here in the UK.

As most of you know I am a bible reading Christian and I can see no problem with this at all.

These embryos could not develop into some weird life form, they are for stem-cell research and will be used to help with 'uncurable' deseases. Surely a good thing!

Also, as an aside to the moral debate used by the 'religious' types. If these embryos have life it's God who gives that life, this is a basic religious biblical precept!

What do you think? Some weird Frankenstein research or necessary medical research?

Here's a link from the BBC

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/7323298.stm

Necessary (or at any rate beneficial) medical research I think. Good to hear you are supporting it as well Tigger.

I think this is a topic that will become to dominate out lives in the future. I think it will happen either legally or not.

My concern with this is one of history.

Science creates for the common good and men then use the knowledge for other purposes.

Alfred Nobel developed Dynamite, Gelignite, and similar as a safe alternative to the extremely dangerous explosive Nitroglycerine shortly before the Second World War. It was a great technical invention but was it put to good use.

Heroin was developed as a safe alternative to the highly addictive but effective pain killer morphine. Bayer believed that it would became a boon to the medical profession and a saviour to mankind. Good thinking but the application was highly flawed.

The dream of splitting the atom was the centrepiece of Physics and Chemistry. The end product was to be safe, cheap, and reliable power for all mankind without the problems of Coal and petroleum based products. Ended up being used to end a highly destructive war in the Pacific but at what cost.

Thalidamide was a drug developed and endorsed as a safe medicine for stabilising blood pressure especially for pregnant women in the first trimester of pregnancy.

History is stuffed full of examples of good intentions gone wrong - I fear that this one will be added to the list.

CB

I am all for anything that helps ease suffering.

However, the truth is most layman have no idea what the probability of these experiments working are. So how can we judge? We can but look to the most qualified in society and place our trust in them.

I don't believe that anyone really wants to start a real life Dr Moreau's Island, well I hope not anyway!!

All valid points, but progress brings with it the risks of failure or unintended effects. Since we are human (and therefore fallible), this is a fact that society must continue to accept. I'm with Tiggs and Meadish - I see a lot of potential good coming from this.

Interesting posts.

CB, while I share your concern that things can be miss-used, there's no way we can stop this sort of development. And if it helps someone who previously was a lost case...

quicksilva, you're right that the 'layman' doesn't know what's going on and I suppose we just have to put our trust in the 'experts'.

Ping, my point entirely. There are always risks involved. I think about how society has changed, it's not that long ago that we died from everything!

I thought they had already done all this genetically created embryos stuff... Crowboy is living proof that you really should not <deleted> with nature.

^ An unintended effect?

I thought hybrids were carmaker's developements.

Petrol electric....... gee, I am confuzzled now.

I agree that this is an amazingly interesting field of research and I hope I live long enough to see it being put to good use.

However, I'm mindful of the fact that whenever man attempts to rise above Nature, he invariably falls beneath it...

It ain't necessarily so.

I agree that this is an amazingly interesting field of research and I hope I live long enough to see it being put to good use.

However, I'm mindful of the fact that whenever man attempts to rise above Nature, he invariably falls beneath it...

An insightful post there micky! No one is actually saying that this will work, the hybrids haven't lived long enough to be of any use, so it might just go tits-up!

...as the bishop said to the actress.