WP: Donor (egg) Issue Slows Stem Cell Progress

[DeepModem Mom]

Donor Issue Slows Stem Cell Progress
S. Korea Crisis May Affect U.S. Debate

By Rick Weiss
Washington Post Staff Writer
Sunday, November 20, 2005; Page A06


An ethics crisis at one of the world's most successful human embryonic stem cell laboratories has plunged the controversial field of research into a new swirl of uncertainty, with U.S. scientists nervously wondering if the scandal will grow into a new wave of political backlash.

The accusations surrounding Korean cloning expert Woo Suk Hwang of Seoul National University -- the first scientist to grow stem cells inside cloned human embryos -- has already killed a spate of planned studies that sought to prove the cells' medical potential.

But the claims that Hwang may have obtained human eggs for his studies from women who felt pressured to donate are also reigniting a long-smoldering debate in the United States over the ethics of paying young women for their eggs, which are difficult to obtain but essential to the production of stem cells tailored to individuals.

Egg donation, which is generally safe but occasionally leads to serious and even life-threatening complications, has been a wedge issue in the stem cell debates, linking feminists and other liberal thinkers to conservatives who favor tighter limits on stem cell research.

With a wide range of stem cell bills primed for congressional action as early as January, the South Korean meltdown could bolster those seeking stronger limits....


http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/11/19/AR2005111900858.html

[bettyellen]

1. they should take them from women they assist with implanatation

and just be grownups about it. all those women agree to have extra eggs fertilized that they know will be flushed or iced forever. anyone who thinks icing them forever is a moral high road is maybe too dumb to be a mom in the first place.
here's a clue ladies, if no one's birthing it, it ain't a baby.

[Celebration]

2. why the controversy with stem cell research?

Concerns about Hwang's experiments were amplified by rumors that the woman had been paid for her eggs, which could have made it even more difficult for a struggling student to say "no."

Are men paid to be sperm donors?

Are people paid to be blood donors?

THIS ALREADY HAPPENS!! I see advertisements for eggs in college newspapers, and this is for women that want their own babies with someone else's eggs. They always want the donor to have high SAT scores, athletic AND look like the mom. Now if this is accepted, why is stem cell research so different?

[pitohui]

3. because you see women shouldn't be paid for what they do

even tho being an egg donor is more risky than being a sperm donor, men are paid w.out question, only women should be cheated of fair recompense for their efforts

this shit never ends in this society, does it?