The election is over...

[thearrowpen]

...and Barack Obama is officially the 44th president of the US of A.  I'm not sure which disappoints me more: the presidential choice, or the fact that Proposal 2 (on stem cell research) passed in Michigan.  Either way, it was a heartbreaking night for me

Comments

[balrogthane]

What a dirty post, Sil. I'm astonished at you. Using language like "responsibility"? You could have at least flagged it as including adult content!

I agree wholeheartedly.

[arquitenens]

This was a hard proposal for me. On one hand, it's using a living thing for someone else's gain. On the other hand, those embryos are discarded if they are not used in some way, and are "extras" or unsuitable for use to begin with. I voted for it because I think the alternative is worse--throwing a living thing away and having nothing come out of that loss.

Plasticity research is where the happy medium is. Embryonic stem cells are easier to grow in a culture and can become just about any cell in the body, while adult stem cells are harder to cultivate and limited in what type of cells they can become. However, there is evidence that adult cells may be somewhat plastic and capable of generating more types of cells than we think. Pursuing that could lead to a wealth of research opportunities that don't involve ending a life.