EMBRYONIC STEM CELL RESEARCH AND THE DIGNITY OF HUMAN LIFE.

In his quest and in obedience to the divine mandate to “conquer and subdue the earth” man has gone far, thanks to science and technology, to explore, exploit, manipulate and harness nature to improve his lot as the being at the apex of creation. Recent times have witnessed unprecedented and prodigious feats in science and technology prominent among which include the quantum leap in areas of information and communication technology, medical sciences and BIOTECHNOLGY. The progress in biotechnology has given birth to promising and yet sensitive areas like artificial fertility, genetic engineering (including cloning and hybridization) and STEM CELL RESEARCH with their attendant ethical and moral implications on the dignity of human life.
The scope of this essay is to give a brief insight into what stem cell research is all about and examine its implication on the dignity of human life.
STEM CELLS
Basically, cells are the building blocks of multicellular organisms most of which are capable of division and specialization causing growth and development of the organism. Stem cells are special cells in the body characterized and distinguished by their inherent ability to renew themselves for long periods by division, and transform into specialized body cells through the process of differentiation. Stem cells that can transform to any specialized cells of the body is said to be TOTIPOTENT e.g. the zygote, while the cells that can differentiate into more than one specialized cells are said to be PLURIPOTENT, typical of the haemopoeitic (blood-cell forming) cells of the bone marrow.The two main categories of stem cells include:

EMBRYONIC STEM CELL and ADULT STEM CELLS.
The embryonic stem cells are derived from the embryo which derives from the early stages of division of fertilized ovum (zygote) and is capable of giving rise to all the tissues of the body as earlier mentioned. On the other hand, an adult stem cell is an undifferentiated cell found among differentiated cells in a tissue or organ which can renew itself and can differentiate to yield the major specialized tissues or organ of origin. However, under certain conditions adult, stem cells can be induced to form cells of other tissues, a process known as PLASTICITY.

THE STEM CELL RESEARCH: HOW AND WHY?
Today, stem cells can be harvested and grown in the laboratory and subjected to various experimentations. In the case of embryonic stem cells, the zygote is allowed to grow for few days and then the inner cell mass is harvested at the blastocyst stage. The cells are planted and grown in a laboratory culture dish containing the appropriate culture medium necessary for growth.
The apparent benefit of stem cell research is on its promising solution to medical nightmares like organ transplant, treatment of diseases like Parkinson’s, diabetes mellitus, Alzheimer’s, etc; and testing of drugs and toxins as well as other research purposes.

EMBRYONIC STEM CELL RESEARCH: AN ETHICAL DILEMMA.
The numerous humanitarian benefits and breakthrough the embryonic stem cell research appears to offer notwithstanding, the issue raises serious ethical problems that need be examined and critically addressed. The problem is that the human embryo used as the object and a means here is the root of humanity with inherent dignity. Although the debate as to whether the embryo deserves the dignity due for human adult remains unsettled among various schools of thought, most agree that the embryo is at least a potential human being. Many argue that a human embryo should not be considered a human being until the central nervous system is sufficiently formed, at about the eight-week of gestation. Hence, Goldening is of the view that human life is a continuum spectrum between the initiation of cerebral life and cerebral death. At any stage, tissue or organ system may be present, but without the presence of a functional human brain they cannot constitute a human person. (J M Goldening, 1985, “The Brain-Life Theory: Towards A Consistent Biological Definition Of Humanness”; Journal Of Medical Ethics). J F Donceal futher argues in his work, “Immediate Animation and Delayed Hominization”, that there might be no human soul and therefore person until the appearance of the central nervous system.
The central nervous system, as matter of medical fact, plays a central role in the formation, unity and functionality of the human person. At the death of the brain stem, the unity and functionality of the human subject is lost and the person is said to be dead. This is commonly evidenced clinically by the loss of vital signs (pulse, blood pressure, and breathing) and ultimately dilated and fixed pupils. At this point the human soul is gone.

In the case of the embryo, however, the virtual absence of the central nervous system does not deny the “intense relationship between the cells, tissues and organs upheld by a continuous, ordinate, and co-ordinate nervous cells, testifying to a morphor-functional unity” (Prof. Angello Serra et al). Hence, the embryonic stage is a highly dynamic process where the ontogenetic law requires a gradual organization of the whole body including the central nervous system. Sequel to the intrinsic law of development already written in the genome, the unity and individuality of the embryo is preserved. Thomas Aquinas toed the same line of thought when he said “from the time of conceptus the fetus is a matter properly disposed to be subject of such form as rational soul” Prof.Leujuene (professor of genetics at Rene Descartes University, Paris and former head of Pontifical Academy Of Science) reaffirms this when he said that “all that one needs for life is present at fertilization in the genetic disk.”

Efforts made so far is geared towards clarifying the status of the embryo as unique human individual who should be accorded the same dignity as human adult. Now we proceed to examine the dignity of human life in relation to embryonic stem cell research.

THE DIGNITY OF HUMAN LIFE AND EMBRYONIC STEM CELL RESEARCH.
The dignity of human life rests upon the indisputable fact that man, apart from the biological and instinctive characteristics which he shares with other animals, possesses psychological, moral, spiritual and unique social attributes which distinguish him and place him above other creatures. He is a tripartite composite of body, soul and spirit. Man is the only being conscious of his existence and that of other being around him. Thanks to his spiritual faculties, he can transcend the world of matter and sensation to grasp metaphysical realities. Endowed with a conscience, man has the innate knowledge of the first principle of morality. His social attributes is unique and superior even to those which seem apparent in other animals. Above all, man is conscious of his origin from a supernatural order.
On the other hand scientific extremism, nay the technological imperative has it that “if anything can be done it should be done”; in other words all that is technologically possible should be permissible. This, if so, will lead to unrestricted technological maneuvering and interference with human elements as in embryonic stem cell research, cloning, eugenics, artificial fertility, unrestricted plastic surgery and sex change, as well as commercialization of human organs and embryos.

The rectitude of any scientific experiment depends on its goal. This is not the end justifies the means which in itself is not morally justifiable. All knowledge should be geared towards protection, improvement and promotion of human species. So, man is the subject and the end, and should not be used as the object or a means to an end.
In stem cell research man is illicitly used as the object. The human embryo is destroyed and wasted!

The magisterium of the church did not mince any words on her position regarding this when she stated in the Donum Vitae, that “human embryo from the time of conception is human subject with a well defined identity, and from that point begins its own co-ordinated, continuous and gradual development such that at no later stage can it be considered as simple mass of cells. It has the right to its own life and any intervention not in favor of the embryo violates that right. It follows then that the harvesting of the inner cell mass of the blastocyst (embryo) which damages and nips in the bud its development is a gravely immoral act and illicit. The Church then concludes that the human being must be respected and treated as a person from conception.

EVALUATION AND CONCLUSION.
The stem cell research is indeed an exciting prospect in medicine. Nevertheless, it should be mentioned that some technical hurdles still stand in the way of the promise of stem cell and realization of the uses. For instance, the issue of histocompatibility; the transplanted cells and tissues from the donor are foreign to the recipient whose immune system targets the foreign bodies for destruction. Another issue is that the precise nature of cells produced from cultured embryonic stem cells is difficult to determine. The functional characteristics of cells in culture may not be well integrated in human body. Again, the totipotency of cultured embryonic stem cells may still be a matter of scientific assumption!
However, while scientists are working so hard to overcome these hurdles, more efforts should be made towards adult stem cell research which, although presents with its own disputable problems, nearly promises equally and is free from the grave social, moral, ethical and political issues which the embryonic stem research raises.
Finally, science and technology is and should be at the service of humanity in his totality. Not all that is technologically possible is ethically permissible. Human life is sacred and an end in itself and should not be used as a means!