In a marked departure from the Bush administration mandate, the National Institutes of Health today authorized the use of embryonic stem cell lines taken from “leftover” frozen embryos at two infertility clinics. Note that these embryos were originally conceived to become living children of their parent/donors; now under the Obama administration such “leftovers” can be destroyed in the name of empirical science. The Washington Post quotes NIH Director Francis Collins as saying:
“This is a real change in the landscape. . . This is the first down payment on what is going to be a much longer list . . . that will empower the scientific community to explore the potential of embryonic stem cell research.”
More like a down payment on a long list that includes guilt, regret and God’s wrath, Dr. Collins.
Dunno if you caught the tweet, but I noticed that http://www.bioethics.gov went down a few days ago. Hmmmm.
Thanks, Dan. Maybe the Administration wants to distance itself from the previous bioethics commission completely?