On Which Chromosome Does the Gene for the Human Soul Reside?
The Washington Post is reporting that privately funded researchers have now managed to use human eggs to produce lines of stem cells for the first time. To achieve this, the researchers installed the nuclei of skin cells in unfertilized human eggs. However, this means that the cells so produced contain three sets of chromosomes. The goal of a lot of embryonic stem cell research is to create tissues that are suitable for transplant by being genetlcally matched to specific patients. This technique does not do this, but may be a step in that direction. Of course, this new research is once again stirring ethical debate, and the Post reports one of the sillier comments:
"They have created human embryos. They are abnormal, but they are still human embryos," said Daniel P. Sulmasy, a professor of medicine and ethics at the University of Chicago. "Anyone who is opposed to the deliberate creation and destruction of human embryos, as I am, would be opposed to this research."
Since there is no way that these triploid "embryos" could develop into babies, one is left to wonder on which chromosome Sulmasy thinks the gene allowing for the installation of a human soul must reside?
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