As local elections loom, Boris Johnson seems willing to seek cheap advantage from what needs to be a truly thoughtful debate, says Guardian columnist Gaby Hinsliff
Pushing the Limits on Embryo Research
Commentary
It’s no surprise to many of us that the “14-day rule,” which limits research on human embryos to their first two weeks of development, is being challenged.
For those of us who were around during the Bush presidency and the time of the great stem cell debates, we always knew the 14-day rule would erode. A film I produced, “Lines That Divide,” is a great primer or refresher for those who are curious about that time in U.S. political and scientific division.
Will embryonic stem cells have the potential for developing cures for disease? If so, at what expense? Some argued we would be at risk for a new form of biological colonialism, where there would be vats of human embryos available to researchers.