Healthy Skepticism Toward "Ethically Sound" Stem
Cells

post from The Scientific Activist on 24 August 2006 09:45:49 AM. © The Scientific Activist

I would be remiss if I didn't address the latest stem cell news, since it's already all over the place. An article from today's issue of Nature describes a technique for deriving a line of human embryonic stem cells by removing a single cell from the eight-cell blastula (created for in vitro fertilization). According to the paper, the blastula can still be implanted and allowed to grow and develop normally, without any apparent damage to the embryo. Not surprisingly, the press has painted this as a potential solution to the "moral reservations" behind Bush's embryonic stem cell research restrictions. Dispatches from the Culture Wars and Gene Expression have already chimed in, and Jake of Pure Pedantry offers a lucid overview and critique of the article.

The reaction within the scientific community has ranged from cautious optimism to outright skepticism, and I find myself somewhere in the middle, leaning toward the side of the skeptics. Jake's review gives us plenty of reasons to be cautious about taking the results of this paper too far. In particular, the health of both the embryos and the stem cell lines have not been fully evaluated, and this technique requires the use of mouse feeder cells, limiting the potential therapeutic potential of stem cell lines derived in this manner.

When it comes down to it, this technique appears unsatisfactory for ending the current debate either way you look at it. If the technique is validated, and it can in fact produce 100% totipotent embryonic stem cell lines without harming the original embryo, this would mean that the cell used to generate the stem cell line would itself be capable of developing into a human embryo under the right conditions. Since the opposition to embryonic stem cell research generally takes the very narrow view that a fertilized egg is the moral equivalent of a fully grown and developed human being, this probably won't due much to appease these opponents. Remember, these people prefer to let the extra embryos generated by in vitro fertilization procedures go to waste, instead of using them to generate much needed human embryonic stem cell lines.

On the other hand, if the technique is demonstrated to be significantly less effective than traditional means of harvesting human embryonic stem cells--as seems to be the case--then it is not an acceptable alternative. Although this method shows more promise that some of the other alternatives previously proposed, including creating genetically-altered embryos incapable of completing development, it remains imperative that we continue to try to make the case for the accepted and proven techniques of generating human embryonic stem cells. Instead of giving in to religious zealots, we should instead make sure the ethical debate is fully informed.

I described one generally underused points of information that is not widely used in my recent review of Coming to Life:

Nüsslein-Volhard notes that policies on human embryonic stem cell research vary widely worldwide, and many are based on the ill-conceived notion of life beginning at conception. Instead, she argues that implantation of the embryo in the uterus marks a much starker developmental landmark (a previously independently developing embryo suddenly "placing itself in direct and immediate cell contact with another individual"), and without this step, embryonic development cannot proceed. Although life is a continuous cycle--making any definition of the "beginning of life" fundamentally flawed--since the derivation of stem cells from an embryo takes place before implantation, this should prove the "moral concerns" (a.k.a. political pandering) guiding current policy unfounded.

Although many will probably claim that the recent study is the solution to our stem cell debacle, we should only be cautiously optimistic, and we shouldn't let this distract us from the push to end our current unreasonable restrictions on federal funding for human embryonic stem cell research.

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The Loom goes micro

post from Aetiology on 24 August 2006 09:30:00 AM. © Aetiology

Carl Zimmer has a few excellent micro-focused posts that you shouldn't miss. Yesterday the topic was new research demonstrating kin selection in amoebae, and earlier in the week, he wrote about Wolbachia, a fascinating bacteria that infects a large number of insects. (Those of you who've read Margulis' "Acquiring Genomes" may remember that infection with this bacterium can decrease fertility between individual insects who are differential in the presence of Wolbachia, potentially leading to reproductive isolation. Josh has more on this).

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Drum Roll

post from Wolverine's Den on 24 August 2006 09:27:00 AM. © Wolverine's Den

Here’s the skinny, verbatim:The Final IAU Resolution on the definition of “planet” ready for votingAt the second session of the 2006 International Astronomical Union (IAU) General Assembly, which will be held 14:00 Thursday 24 August, members of the IAU will vote on the Resolutions presented below. There will be separate sequential votes on Resolution 5A [...]

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Power Requirements for Cutting Mills

post from CR4 on 24 August 2006 09:05:00 AM. © CR4

Clement A. writes: I am looking for a model of the power requirements for cutting mills. I learned that there are models for the power requirement of communition equipment in chapter 2 of Chemical Engineering, Volume 2 by Coulson and Richardson. I have not been able to lay my hands on one. If...

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Astronomical madness

post from The Island of Doubt on 24 August 2006 08:59:31 AM. © The Island of Doubt

I envy Nature reporter Jenny Hogan, who's been blogging from the International Astronomical Union's big meeting in Prague for the past couple of weeks. I've always considered science journalism the most fascinating sector of the industry (that's why I'm one), but Hogan appears to be having an unusually fun time as the conference delegates lose their calm, rational demeanor in favor of an obsessive, impulsive approach to redefining the planets.

Her latest post, made just a few hours ago, has a breathless quality to it:

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You do want some letters after your name, don't
you

post from Pharyngula on 24 August 2006 08:57:20 AM. © Pharyngula

The Friends of Charles Darwin website update I mentioned yesterday is complete (I toasted it with a latte instead of a whiskey, I'm afraid). You do know that if you join, you are then entitled to put an official "FCD" after your name, which looks very distinguished and high-falutin' (I just refrain because I'm shy about bragging about my honors.) The FCD requires just about as much work and more intelligence than the Ph.D. that Kent Hovind has after his name, so it's worth going for.

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Turbo Cough

post from CR4 on 24 August 2006 08:24:00 AM. © CR4

cameo writes: We are developing a small, but mighty diesel engine. But, we have some NVH issues with the VGT, one of which has priority over the others. During tip-out maneuvers, there is this blow-off noise from the turbo. I reduced the noise by eliminating EGR rush during tip-out, but I need...

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Extreme Engineering

post from Curious Cat Science and Engineering Blog on 24 August 2006 08:08:00 AM. © Curious Cat Science and Engineering Blog

Discovery Channels’ Extreme Engineering explores audacious engineering possibilities. The Extreme Engineering web site provides a view of some of the exciting projects engineers have worked on like the new subways for New York City and Hong Kong’s airport. And it also shows some possible future projects like a transatlantic tunnel (image above) which [...]

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I would be a faboo interior decorator, I'm sure

Oooh, I love this idea: art prints on a plastic adhesive that you just stick on the wall. They've got squid art! Unfortunately, they've also got a hefty price, and doubly unfortunately, my wife has this annoying thing called "taste" which precludes me slapping squid up everywhere in my house.

(via the aptly named Squid)

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WorldCon Report #1

I am at WorldCon! This is the first day of the con, so I suspect there will be more people tomorrow, but there were still quite a few today. The dealer room was a little crowded, but of course these guys didn’t help:This is an amazing display of model building. Robbie the Robot even moves, [...]

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