Embryonic Cells, No Embryo Needed: Hunting for Ways Out of an Impasse

If there were no controversy over human embryonic stem cells, Dr. Rudolf Jaenisch of M.I.T. and Dr. George Daley of Harvard Medical School would probably never have started some unusual, and difficult, experiments.

Stem cells, a type of universal cell in early embryos, can in theory grow into any of the body's tissues and organs. But embryonic stem cells are drawn from human embryos after they have grown for about five days in the lab, and obtaining those cells requires that the embryos be destroyed. The moral objection has been that that is destroying human life.

So while most stem cell scientists focus on obtaining stem cells from early embryos, Dr. Daley and Dr. Jaenisch have begun asking if they can get stem cells another way, perhaps by creating aberrant cell clusters that contain stem cells but could never survive more than a week or so. The idea is to produce embryonic cells without the embryos and make nearly everyone happy.

The research has caught the attention of some members of Congress, who have proposed bills to allow federal funding for such methods. And, Dr. Daley says, there are legitimate scientific reasons to do the work.

The idea also has attracted scientists, like Dr. Markus Grompe, director of the Oregon Stem Cell Center in Portland, who says he is about to start human embryonic stem cell work for the first time because the new method offers him a way to do so without violating his moral principles.

"Virtually everyone in the stem cell field is interested in this," Dr. Grompe said. "Some feel it's the only ethical way. Others feel it is the only practical way." All agree there has been an ethical impasse.

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A Psychologist, 92, Is at Odds With the Institute He Founded. This guy is considered as one of the two fathers of cognitive behavior therapy.

FReepmail me if you want on or off my health and science ping list. Anyone can post any unrelated link as they see fit.

Altered Nuclear Transfer looks just like the original method. The difference is that the destruction of human life is performed my manipulation of DNA, and not physical force or starvation of the young human life. This isn't really a distinction.

I might be able to get behind the third, theoretical method though. I guess it all depends if they can gain that reprogramming knowledge without creating and killing off human life.

At the time, psychotherapy drew its methods and inspiration from Freudian theory, which held that mental distress could be traced to unconscious conflicts rooted in early childhood. In a radical departure, Dr. Ellis insisted that therapists spend less time probing distant childhood experiences and concentrate instead on what was happening in people's lives at the moment.
In his own practice, he had observed that people's conscious personal philosophies and beliefs - the need to be appreciated, the fear of never finding anyone to love - often drove them to despair and distraction.

Dr. Ellis devised a method for exposing and defusing these habits, called rational emotive behavior therapy. Around the same time, a psychiatrist, Dr. Aaron Beck, now at the University of Pennsylvania, developed similar techniques, and the two men are considered the fathers of cognitive behavior therapy. Subsequent research has shown that the therapy is as effective as medication - and sometimes more so - in treating depression, relieving anxiety and ameliorating other types of distress.

Thanks, this is a really good article. Rational emotive behavior also known as cognitive behavior vs. Freudian psychology. That was an important shift in philosophy. Ellis sets up an institute with his name and now they want to kick him out and change the philosophy of the institute? I wouldn't like that either. I took a couple grad classes in cognitive engineering. Very interesting stuff...

I know the need to be appreciated, and the fear of never finding anyone to love often drives me to despair and distraction. LOL

"The difference is that the destruction of human life is performed by manipulation of DNA ..." Good catch! Are we humans now arrived at the 'god-state' we believe we have right to ... or are we just still stuck in the satanic hole (originally offered in the Garden) of 'be as god'? I would vote the latter since 'human life is still started and destroyed via 'planned failure'. The subtleties are astonishing when dealing with demonic influence. This smacks of demonic influence to these old grey cells.

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