Sir, - The Irish Times has given good coverage to the debates on human cloning and human embryonic stem cell research, including articles by Patrick Smyth (July 28th) on the debate in the US, and by Dick Ahlstrom (August 2nd), accompanied by an Editorial. It is important to analyse these developments critically, since the excitement associated with new discoveries and their potential can sometimes lead to over-enthusiastic and uncritical acceptance.
Firstly, the potential of these technologies to cure disease may have been overstated, particularly in the US, in order to mobilise support from patient lobby groups. Certainly, new and important scientific knowledge will result, but direct application in treating disease may be a long way down the road, and faces serious technical barriers, not least relating to safety.
Other biotechnology-based treatments, such as use of recombinant proteins, do not face similar safety hurdles. Of course, just because there are difficulties doesn't mean that new approaches should not be tried, but it is important to be honest about the chances of success and the likely time-scale.
Secondly, there are serious ethical issues associated with using human embryos, and cells derived from them, for research. These issues will not go away just because we become familiar with reading about research on embryos, but undoubtedly society can be desensitised to ethical issues via familiarity.
There is no reason to think that early embryos, even at the blastocyst stage, are anything other than miniature individual human beings. It is argued that "spare" embryos left over from IVF will be destroyed anyway, so why not use them for research? This is hardly a valid argument. It is surely wrong in the first place to bring into existence extra embryos which will not be implanted.
Even a most laudable objective, such as curing human disease, cannot justify killing individuals, and that unfortunately is what embryo research and human embryonic stem cell research involves.
Thirdly, there are alternative research routes to gaining the same knowledge and generating similar treatments. These involve the use of human stem cells from cord blood/placenta and from adult tissues, and research using animal embryonic stem cells. These may appear to be more difficult routes, but they do not involve the destruction of human individuals.
Science, medicine and related industries are driven by the quest for new knowledge, better disease treatments and new profitable processes and products.
These are all worthy goals, but their pursuit must be constrained by ethical limitations established by the wider society. Ireland, as a country which has rejected the death penalty, should oppose embryo and human embryonic stem cell research not only within its own jurisdiction, but also, to the extent that it can, within the EU and other international forums. - Yours, etc.,
Martin Clynes, Professor of Biotechnology, Dublin City University, Dublin 9.