The Nobel Foundation in Stockholm, Sweden this year awarded two stem cell researchers the Nobel Prize in medicine for work on reprogramming adult stem cells to have embryonic-like properties.
British researcher, Dr. John Gurdon and Japanese researcher Dr. Shinya Yamanaka made a major step towards making immoral embryonic stem cell research outmoded through the direct reprogramming method that converted adult stem cells to an embryonic-like state. Unlike the research advances made by Yamanaka, the advances made by Gurdon utilized the immoral methods of cloning as he created and destroyed embryos to achieve his goal.
Dr. Yamanaka explained how he came to embrace this ethical research. He noted: “When I saw the embryo, I suddenly realized there was such a small difference between it and my daughters. I thought, we can’t keep destroying embryos for our research. There must be another way.” This other ethical way of using adult stem cells continues to make advances and now makes embryonic stem cell research obsolete and out of date. Dr. Yamanaka’s research, unlike Dr. Gurdon’s method that destroys embryos, provides an ethical avenue to bring about new medical treatments for those who suffer from degenerative diseases.
The Nobel Prize committee has made only a small step in recognizing moral medical research in rightly honoring Dr. Yamanaka for his ethical advances in medicine but Dr. Gurdon’s cloning methods should have disqualified him from consideration for the honor. For years the Catholic Church and ethical scientists have championed the use of adult stem cell research over embryonic stem cell research. This has been largely ignored by the media, the academic world, the scientific community and far too many politicians who have carelessly advocated for the destruction of human embryos. We commend Dr. Yamanaka for his moral approach to medical research and hope leaders in the world of media, academia and politics might truly recognize his ethical achievement and finally begin to support and advocate for more advances in moral medicine.
