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The field of reproductive
science is expanding at an
astonishing rate. New
techniques and sophisticated
instruments are producing
remarkab/e results-and, at
the same time, remarkable
moral dilemmas.
by
Clayton Steep
"It is hard to speak
about restraint in a
culture that seems to
venerate very little above
man's own attempt to
master all"
Dr. Leon Kass
26
B
OUNCY
Jittle Louise
Brown- soon to be 2 years
old- is an apparently nor–
mal and healthy child,
though her life began in a 1-by-
2-inch glass tube.
For Mr. and Mrs. John Brown of
Bristol, England, the birth of Louise
was the realization of a dream. After
all, three years previously they had
been told by doctors that they could
never have a child. Then they were
referred to Doctors Patrick Steptoe
and Robert Edwards, who success–
fully brought about Louise's concep–
tion in a glass tube. The rest of the
story was told and retold by the
media.
Actually, experiments with
in vi–
tro
(test tube) fertilization began
with animals in the 1930s. In 1961 an
Italian doctor filmed sorne of his
work with human eggs. But his
efforts were not well received by
either the religious or scientific com–
munities. Other work has been done,
but without a great deal of public
awareness. Now, however, due large–
ly to the success of Doctors Steptoe
and Edwards, Pandora:S box has
been publicly opened, and therc
seems to be no way to close it.
Dr. Steptoe plans soon to engineer
the birth of a human child to a
surrogate mother. In other words, a
human embryo, which has been con–
ceived in a laboratory, is to be put
into the womb of a female "third
person"-not the woman who sup–
plied the egg.
lf
the experiment is
successful , the child will be born to a
woman who is not its real mother!
Genetic Englneerlng and Clonlng
In the field of genetic engineering
there have been sorne stunning
breakthroughs. Being able to single
out an individual gene among the
millions in a human cell suggests a
time when it would be possible to
select in advance the eye color, stat–
ure and IQ of a test-tube child.
Manipulating the genes would pro–
duce custom-made results.
Just recently the General Electric
Co. has been in the news for trying to
patent a man-made bacteria. This
microorganism is of value because it
"eats" oil spills.
Another area of biomedicine that
has sparked a lot of interest is clon–
ing. Cloning is an asexual (sexless)
method of reproduction. A single cell
is taken from somewhere on the body
of a male
or
female. The nucleus is
removed from the cell and put into an
ovum, which is then allowed to grow
much like a normal embryo. The
result is supposed to be a carbon copy
of whoever or whatever gave the
cell.
Dr. Christopher Pelge, a leading
Cambridge scientist, has recently
stated that experiments now under
way on animals indicate that in a few
years human cloning, and even repro–
duction after death, as long as cells
are available, will be possible.
Disturbing Questlons
Volumes have been written debating
the pros and cons of the rapidly
expanding field of biomedicine.
Sorne warn of a monstrous moral,
ethical and legal genie that cannot be
forced back into the test tube. They
denounce the specter of technicians
with culture dishes creating new life
forms or making God-like decisions
concerning the life, death and like–
ness of human beings.
Concerning the work already be–
ing done with human cells, thcre are
indeed profoundly disturbing ques–
tions. For example, what happens if a
7-day-old embryo in a glass tube is
found to be defective? Does it still
have a "right to life' '? When is a
human embryo human? What if
defects don't show up until the baby
is born? Vanee Packard, in his book,
The People Shapers,
asks: " [f we
permit the implant of
in vitro
human
embryos in women, are we prepared
to kili monsters, imbeciles and hope–
lessly defective humans born from
such research?"
" I
thin~
the potential is there for
serious anomalies should an unqual–
ified scientist mishandle an embryo,"
Dr. John Marlow, an American
gynecologist who observed the Step–
toe-Edwards experiment first hand,
remarked in
V.S.
News
and World
R eport
(Aug. 7, 1978). Many ask
just who is going to police all the
' 'unqualified" scientists in the
world.
The legal ramifications of manipu–
lated human reproduction will be
The PLAIN TRUTH