The issue of stem cell research—one of UW-Madison's most lucrative research areas—is one that ""challenges the most fundamental principles on which our society is based,"" said William Hurlbut, a member of the President's Council on Bioethics and consulting professor of the Neuroscience Institute at Stanford University.
In his talk Tuesday night at Union South, ""Stem Cells, Embryos and Ethics: Is There a Way Forward?"" Hurlbut said he is seeking an ""ethically permissible method"" of stem cell research.
The moral controversy of stem cell research originates from the question of when the stem cell embryo becomes a developing human life. According to Hurlbut, the embryo is a human identity from the moment of conception, and this ""is when moral status comes into play.""
Hurlbut argued ""traditional"" methods of stem cell research are morally unacceptable because they destroy human embryos, which are living human organisms. He presented a method called Altered Nuclear Transfer, which he said is morally acceptable because it does not destroy human embryos.
""There are 17 deaths a day due to inadequate organ supply,"" Hurlbut said. ""The benefits of implanting embryos ... seem self-evident if there were no moral issues.""
Following his presentation, a panel consisting of UW-Madison professors Robert Streiffer and Clive Svendsen, and Bishop of the Catholic Diocese of Madison Robert Morlino offered viewpoints on Hulbut's arguments.
Streiffer presented an opposing argument to Hurlbut's claims, arguing human embryos are not morally equivalent to human beings, as Hurlbut said.
He presented the audience with the situation of a hospital fire. If one of the rooms has two embryos, and the other room has one nurse, Streiffer said it would be ""morally acceptable to save the one person,"" instead of the embryos.
Svendsen spoke of ailments such as Alzheimer's and Lou Gehrig's diseases.
""We don't know if embryonic stem cells will work with these diseases yet,"" Svendsen said. ""That's why we're doing the science—until we start the research, there is no cure.""
Bishop Morlino closed the discussion, saying, ""Nothing anyone has said here has convinced me that the unique individualization of the human species [and fertilization of an egg] is not a human being.""
