Human Embryonic Stem-Cell Research: Science and Ethics
By Shirley Wright
A discovery that could revolutionize medicine raises the question of where to draw the line on human embryonic research
This Article From Issue
July-August 1999
Volume 87, Number 4
Page 352
DOI: 10.1511/1999.30.352
In November 1998, the world learned that human embryonic stem cells had been successfully grown in cell culture. The discovery was hailed as a "medical revolution," for here at last was a source of undifferentiated human cells that have the potential to develop into any cell type in the body.
Photograph courtesy of David Gardner and William Schoolcraft, Colorado Center for Reproductive Medicine, an in vitro fertilization clinic that does not conduct stem-cell research. Two of these blastocysts were transferred to a patient, and a successful pregnancy ensued. The others were frozen for transfer to the patient at a later date.
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