Derek Dobies, fundraising chairman for the Undergraduate Bioethics Society, dished out questions regarding stem cell research to the panelists shortly after they each gave a presentation stating their position on the topic.

Dobies said the James Madison College Student Senate and the Undergraduate Bioethics Society sponsored the forum and this was the first mass meeting on stem cell research UBS had ever organized.

“I think that it was a great success, and everybody that showed up was happy with the level of diversity on the panel and also with the extent to which we dug deep into the issues that surround stem cell research in Michigan,” Dobies said.

The panelists discussed the political, ethical and scientific issues within stem cell research at the forum.

Eric Gregory, former Democratic candidate for state representative, expressed support for stem cell research in Michigan.

“It has the potential to cure diseases like diabetes, Parkinson’s, Alzheimer’s and spinal cord injuries,” Gregory said. “Anything we can do to help cure those diseases is really important.”

Gregory, a political theory and constitutional democracy senior, added that the forum “generated educational and intellectual discussion from an analytical perspective.”

Jessica Maschinski sat on the panel and conveyed the viewpoints of stem cell research from Students for Life.

Maschinski, a political theory and constitutional democracy senior and vice president of Students for Life, said embryonic stem cell research and human cloning go hand in hand.

“There is so much controversy because people are having trouble denying that it is a life,” Maschinski said during the forum. “People are creating a life merely to destroy it.”

The panelists were open to questions from the audience after they addressed the issues Dobies put forward.