Vatican Blasts FDA Over Stem Cell Ruling

By Richard Allen
Religion News Service

VATICAN CITY (RNS) A top Vatican official has criticized a decision by the Food and Drug Administration to allow the world's first clinical trials using stem cells derived from human embryos.

"Despite the efforts that are made to deny it, science continues to show us that the embryo is a human being in the making," Elio Sgreccia, president emeritus of the Pontifical Academy for life, told Vatican Radio on Saturday (July 31).

He added that embryos would be "sacrificed to extract the stem cells," arguing "from an ethical point of view, (it) can only receive a negative judgment."

California-based Geron Corp. announced Friday the FDA had given it a green light to carry out tests on volunteer patients who are paralyzed by spinal cord injuries. The original approval for the trials was postponed last year after Geron found small cysts in the rats used in a preclinical study, prompting concern about the treatment's effect on human participants.

Supporters say if successful, the therapy could prompt damaged nerve cells to grow back, enabling patients to recover feeling and movement. Among other ailments, it could help sufferers of Alzheimer's disease and multiple sclerosis.

The Catholic Church supports the use of stem cells extracted from the umbilical cord or certain other parts of the adult body. In May, it announced a joint initiative with the biopharmaceutical company NeoStem, Inc., to expand research of adult stem cell therapies.

The Vatican, however, views stem cells drawn from human embryos as a form of abortion, arguing it destroys another form of nascent human life.

Comments

[Gary Dorman]

12:41 PM on 08/26/2010

These are little snowflake babys and they should be freed from there forzen prisons and implanted in host women and then placed for adoption


http://www.nightlight.org/adoption-services/snowflakes-embryo/default.aspx

[SaneThoughts]

12:20 AM on 08/10/2010

It's all about control and power.

How can religion justify not helping people with medial science?

[hobo62]

07:18 PM on 08/09/2010

The Vatican= Hypocrisy House

[Gomorrah]

07:03 PM on 08/09/2010

We ought to b0mb the vatican

[Enock Zamora]

05:13 PM on 08/09/2010

The Vatican 'Chief's' don't dress in black for nothing. Like 'Elio" would say, if you no Christian, we break a ya knees. In Prophecy, Jesus said he will destroy the seven-hills, where the Vatican is built. Until them bad boy's start dressing in white, I am going to keep my 'Hub-Caps' on. :)

[Whitley2009]

11:19 PM on 08/08/2010

Voltaire said it best, "THE VATICAN IS A GIANT MALE UTERUS!"

[ernie3]

05:56 PM on 08/08/2010

The Vatican needs to shut up and clean its own house.

[A-Superstitionist]

11:00 PM on 08/08/2010

In a way it is better for mankind if the catholic church does not shut up, keeps up their tantrums of moral judgements on society while scandal after scandal of the church as the largest bastion of pedophilia in the world accompanied with massive coverups all the way to the top comes to the surface. That will accelerate rapid demise of one of the longest surviving superstitions. Unfortunately, in all of this an even greater evil is conveniently kept out of the daylight: their anti-condom policy in Africa is contributing to 1.6 million AIDS deaths in Africa EACH AND EVERY YEAR. The hypocrisy of superstitions has no bounds. Einstein said it well: we don't yet know if the universe is infinite but we do know that human stupidity is infinite.

[BlueIndependent]

11:52 AM on 08/08/2010

The Vatican's "ruling" - whatever that is - is, as usual, wrong. How is extracting these cells to help others live - others who may have been born with defective organs - not promoting life? And as of this needed to be said, most opportunities for a woman to get pregnant end in natural abortions by her body in the first place. Even if a woman has had 18 kids, odds are her body has rejected more embryos than accepted throughout her life. The development of embryos in a woman is by no means a given. I know, I have a wife and we've been through the difficulty and suspense of waiting.

I'm sick of this god's-planism that the anti-choicers use to oppose meaningful scientific advances. Nobody is talking about human embryo farms here, and most scientists probably have a better understanding of ethics than most priests do. Does the Vatican really think that practicing scientific minds have no concept of ethical practice? Does the Vatican think them non-human robots?

[OldBear]

05:39 PM on 08/08/2010

In support of your comments, the Vatican thinks only they have the right/correct definition of scientific ethical practice. The Vatican has been oppressing ideas and scientific discovery for almost two thousand years. Given their successes to date, maybe it’s time to rethink their interpretation of the Bible. Ya think?

[FlGlades]

08:15 AM on 08/08/2010

You wont look for guidiance because you are wallowing in self denial and committing Mortal sin. Gays are serving and worshiping not God but the teaching of ?

[BlueIndependent]

11:42 AM on 08/08/2010

They are not looking for "guidance" and "committing mortal sin" based on your religion's say-so. If they are not of your religion, they are not doing these things by definition. And why must gays be serving anybody other than their fellow man? Leave the worshipping on the floor, where it belongs.

And how do you have even 1 fan?

[FlGlades]

02:23 PM on 08/08/2010

because God does have followers who are faithful to his commandments

[Enock Zamora]

03:24 PM on 08/07/2010

To bad, so sad nobody listens to the Vatican anymore. Once all the dark Popes time is up, then we will listen again. We are waiting for the Phrophecy, when the seven-hills, where the Vatican is built is to be destroyed. It can't come soon enough.

[markpkessinger]

09:24 PM on 08/06/2010

First of all, the Vatican is just about the last place I will look to for guidance in things moral. Secondly, all this concern about "sacrificing human embryos" is just plain ignorant of the reality that these embryos will otherwise be discarded. It is not the case that if such embryos are "saved" from being sacrificed to stem cell research that they will then be given the chance to develop into fully developed human organisms. They will simply be thrown away.

[Marshmallow Man]

09:00 PM on 08/06/2010

I've got news for the Vatican- NOBODY CARES

[bikelady1]

11:35 AM on 08/08/2010

The Vatican should go back to the dark ages and take all the pedo priests with them.

[edrice222]

12:07 PM on 08/06/2010

Sacrifice of the embryo is forbidden, but the sacrifice of living children to sexual abuse by catholic priests is acceptable.

[MadBrad]

01:47 PM on 08/06/2010

Maybe they are getting bored abusing children and want the embryo"s to themselves. Religion is the downfall of this planet.

[edrice222]

01:53 PM on 08/06/2010

Fanned MB for truth.
Organized religion and the absurd dogma and beliefs have contributed to the ignorance and suffering of humanity for centuries.

[Merrimac57]

02:50 AM on 08/06/2010

I would like to once again point out that it is no longer necessary to destroy an embryo to obtain embryonic stem cells. Scientists can turn skin cells into embryonic stem cells.

I am shocked that this is not brought up more often. We can obtain the same amount of scientific and medical knowledge without destroying embryos, so why don't we?

[turfkiller]

01:58 PM on 08/06/2010

Your understanding of the science is based on what you have been provided by religious sources. It's not entirely complete or even accurate. There are many different types of embryonic stem cells and not just one. There are couple different types of embryonic stem cells for different components of blood alone. Each type are suitable from some types of treatments and research but not universal. The example of skin embryonic stem cells you provided may be useful in regrowing skin, skin cancer treatments and research for cosmetics.

[Merrimac57]

04:14 PM on 08/06/2010

Mmmm...pretty sure you don't know what you're talking about out that one. My understanding of the science comes from the extremely religious University of Illinois. My source comes from the downright fundamentalist Washington Post.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/08/21/AR2005082101180.html

A few highlights from the article: "In theory at least, that means that any tissues grown from those newly minted stem cells could be transplanted into the person to treat a disease without much risk that they would be rejected, because they would constitute an exact genetic match." Also: "Embryonic stem cells are capable of becoming virtually any kind of cell or tissue." Finally: "If some lingering, and potentially daunting, uncertainties can be dealt with successfully, the new technique 'may circumvent some of the logistical and societal concerns' that have hampered much of the research in this country, Chad A. Cowan, Kevin Eggan and colleagues from the Harvard Stem Cell Institute report in the Science article."

There are different types of stem cells, but I think you're thinking of the differences between adult and embryonic stem cells. It's possible to turn skin cells into embryonic stem cells now, cells that hopefully be prompted to differentiate into different types of cells and eventually cure diseases.

[FlGlades]

10:54 PM on 08/05/2010

The overwhelming majority of the priests involved in these incidents are accused of sexual molestation of adolescent males, not females. This means that nature of the scandal is homosexual.

[darkmark]

12:56 AM on 08/06/2010

have you ever tried reading a book?

[robpmgc]

02:54 AM on 08/06/2010

I'm guessing only one.......

[BlueIndependent]

11:46 AM on 08/08/2010

I suppose then that you missed all the cases where young girls were molested...? Particularly the recent one about the Protestant pastor?

The problem is not with homosexuality, it's with the church's stridently troglodytic, anti-human views on sexuality. I guarantee any one of those boy-abusing priests would jump at the chance to have sex with a woman. This is what an over-reliance on shaming people out of sex does when they grow much older. They hate themselves but feel natural urges to act, so they turn to committing crimes behind curtains to do so.