Stem-Cell Research’s Controversial Past
Embryonic-stem-cell research has provoked more controversy—political, religious, and ethical—than almost any other area of scientific inquiry. This week the field suffered a legal blow with U.S. District Judge Royce Lamberth’s ruling, which blocks the Obama administration’s 2009 regulations expanding embryonic-stem-cell research.
Louise Brown, a.k.a. the "test-tube baby," is born in England. Brown, pictured on a newspaper cover soon after her birth, is the first baby in the world to be conceived by in-vitro fertilization (IVF), a procedure that combines egg and sperm outside the mother's womb. Today, assisted reproductive technology is responsible for an estimated 250,000 babies born every year, but there is much debate about the fate of unused embryos, which play a vital role in stem-cell research.
Comments