While the presidential candidates wrangle over stem cells on the campaign trail, researchers at Harvard University are preparing to cross over into some scientifically uncharted territory and start cloning human embryos. They say that the potential benefits balance or even outweigh the risks and moral concerns.
Opponents caution that morally-charged decisions such as cloning need to be made in public, not in private research labs. They fear that if private institutions in America are allowed to tinker with the makings of life without national oversight, cloned humans could be next.
Guests:
George Daley, stem cell researcher at Harvard University and Children’s Hospital Boston
George Annas, professor of Bioethics at Boston University
Jonathan Moreno, co-chair of the National Academy of Science’s Committee on Guidelines for Human Embryonic Stem Cell Research