Imagine, in the not-too-distant future, a prospective mother walking into an in-vitro fertilization clinic, checking a box before the procedure that would allow the practitioners to remove a single cell from a fertilized egg.
The single cell will be used to further medical research.
The embryo wouldn't be harmed.
It's not science fiction. Rather, it's one of two procedures being tested by scientists that could go a long way toward ending the debate over stem cell research in this country.
The technique avoids the destruction of embryos by removing one cell from the fertilized egg after its third division, at the eight-cell stage. The removed cell is then grown into cells that have the same properties as stem cells. The remaining cells, in an experiment involving a mouse's egg, remained as a viable embryo that grew successfully to term.
The other method, which creates an embryo that cannot stick to the uterus wall, is still morally questionable. Groups challenging this new approach say it creates embryos only to destroy them.
However, the first technique bypasses much of the moral debate by preserving the embryo while creating a usable stem cell. The cell would then be used in research to possibly cure previously untreatable ailments, such as Parkinson's disease.
These developments are undeniably good for scientists trying to further research in this field. Further funding in their research might be negotiable if this new procedure proves to be a success.
While it still must be assessed for potential risk to human embryos, if the practice proves viable, the possible knowledge gained from stem cell research can be moved to the foreground while the moral debate is almost entirely solved. Well, for the most part.
One representative in Congress, Republican Roscoe G. Bartlett of Maryland, who describes himself as "a pro-life legislator" on his Web site, was quoted Sunday in The New York Times saying, "This gets around all of the ethical arguments except for that small minority of the pro-life community that doesn't even support in-vitro fertilization."
One of those groups, the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, will likely never approve stem cell research of any kind. They argue that any preimplantation genetic diagnosis itself is unethical. However, most in the middle of the debate will likely have their moral qualms quashed by this development.
It's unquestionably a step in the right direction to end the debate and start performing more of the research that is desperately needed.
In fact, with this we might not be too far from the final destination — cures.
