stem cells----------------------------"Starry Night," by Vincent van Gogh

embryonic stem cell colonies from the lab of developmental biologist James Thompson
Source: University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Used with permission © University of Wisconsin Board of Regents

Embryonic Stem Cell Information Resources

Visit the "Stem Cell Information" web site, the official National Institutes of Health resource for stem cell research, by clicking here.

For one animation showing the origins of embryonic stem cells, click here. For another one, click here.

Human Reproductive Cloning: CRS Reports for Congress and an article from the National Genome Research Institute

Read the March 10, 2003, update of a "Report for Congress: Human Cloning," prepared by the Congressional Research Service. Read the original version from December 19, 2001, less than a month after Advanced Cell Technology (ACT), a Massachusetts-based biotech company, announced the first successful cloning of a human embryo. Read the February 25, 2002, version by clicking here.

Listen to a September 24, 2004, Stem Cell World audio interview with Robert Lanza, Vice President of Medical & Scientific Development at Advanced Cell Technology (ACT), on the occasion of "the first successful "isolation and characterization of putative RPE (retinal pigment epithelium)," which might making possible the "production of zoonoses-free RPE cells suitable for subretinal transplantation in patients with retinal degenerative diseases." This is, in layperson terms, "eyesight for the blind."

Read an article entitled "Cloning/Embryonic Stem Cells" at the web site of the U.S. Government's National Human Genome Research Institute, part of the National Institutes of Health.

Human Reproductive Cloning: Arguments For and Arguments Against

Dr. Patrick Dixon, in "Reasons Against Cloning" argues against human reproductive cloning on these grounds:

Health risks from mutation of genes
Emotional risks
Risk of abuse of the technology

For arguments against human cloning from the Center for Genetics and Society, as well as rebuttals to those arguments, arguments in favor of creating human clones, and a summary statement, click here.

Click on the title for "Twenty-one Arguments Against Human Cloning, And Their Responses".

For an extensive collection of arguments for and against human cloning, from the HCT Electronic Library—UAE entry "Cloning: Ethical Issues," click here.

Here's a pro-human cloning perspective in an essay entitled "Against a Prohibition on Cloning" on The Reproductive Cloning Network.

For arguments "for" and "against" human reproductive cloning from the The (U.S.) President's Council on bioethics, click on the appropriate link.

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