Outlawing science?
For the last few million years humans have been pushing the limits of their knowledge and understanding and going on to invent and develop new ways of doing things. We may not have got very far a few million years ago but scientific progress is a machine that cannot be stopped and in the last few decades we have made amazing steps forward. But when is the right time to stop? Personally I’m not sure that there is a right time and that we need to understand everything that we can but there are some issues that fall under the remit of ethics rather than pure discovery.
One of these areas that receives a lot of press is stem cell research and the BBC ran a story today about the possiblity of laws being put in place to stop researchers continuing down this avenue. It singles out human/animal hybrid cells and how they are being used. Now as always I find ethics a kind of literary minefield but where do people actually stand on these types of things.
From a personal perspective I can’t see the real problem with this type of research, it doesn’t hurt anyone and it may be key in understanding some of the causes behind diseases such as Parkinsons and Alziemers. Some people, and particularly ethics lobby groups (Although that is probably their job!) think that this is unethical as it’s ‘unnatural’, well what is natural about your brain cells commiting suicide and then gradually going mad? What do other people think about this?
Good Hunting
PS - Apologies for the Daily Mail esk title!