Obama to reverse embryonic stem cell ban

[Ziggy Stardust]

^^Kind of like the research the Nazi did, research on humans without there consent.

Not kind of, exactly like what the Nazis did!

 

[Miles Teg]

^^Kind of like the research the Nazi did, research on humans without there consent.

Except, you know, the embryo is incapable of feeling pain.

 

[El_Machinae]

Consent is given by the mother and (in some regions) the donation process must be initiated by her. There cannot be coercion or compensation for the donation. Any potential moral crime is no greater than the abortion itself. Obviously, if these ethical considerations are not maintained, then, yeah, there's cause for additional concern.

Except, you know, the embryo is incapable of feeling pain.

We only really know this because of the research, in fact. When's the last time you heard of someone donating a miscarried fetus?



Obama's compromise is sitting quite well with the wishes of fertility patients. Many of them preferred to donate their unused embryos to science, compared to disposing of them, paying for their cryogenic storage, or donating them to infertile couples.

 

[Simple Simon]

I call godwin on c_h - why do creationist have such a horrible rate with regards to losing debates?

 

[Ziggy Stardust]

They have a great rate with regard to losing debates.

 

[SS-18 ICBM]

Not really. The real reason the US leads in R&D is simple arithmetic. It has the greatest GDP.

I suppose that is true.

Not to mention, the vast majority of the federal research money goes towards military research and development, unlike most of the other countries in the chart.

It's not like military technology can't be applied to civilian uses. Radar was once a military invention, and ARPANET is one of the precursors of the Internet. Even GPS was once a military technology.

 

[Narz]

Good.

Research is good (as long as it is ethical). Blocking research is not.

 

[El_Machinae]

It's not like military technology can't be applied to civilian uses. Radar was once a military invention, and ARPANET is one of the precursors of the Internet. Even GPS was once a military technology.

I agree that there's civilian utility, but I think it's a question of efficiency. Civilian uses piggyback on military intentions: and so the money might have been better spent with civilians in mind from the very beginning.

We notice the civilian benefits, too, because the military R&D is so freaking high. As well, classifyied data might be limiting the science benefits of the research.