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In a bid to sidestep the ethical debate over the use of human embryos in medical research, scientists have developed a way to derive viable stem cell lines without harming the embryo.

They did so by extracting a single cell from the embryo — as in vitro fertilization clinics do when they test for genetic defects and introducing a common molecule called laminin to keep it in a stem cell, or pluripotent, state.

Subsequent development of the embryo was unaffected by the biopsy, according to the study published Thursday by the journal Cell Stem Cell.

The new technique holds the promise of dramatically speeding up clinical applications of stem cell therapies for a wide range of debilitating diseases and illnesses.

"Within the next few months we could make as many of these cells as we like," said Lanza, chief scientific officer at Advanced Cell Technology.

But a leading opponent of embryonic stem cell research said Lanza's method — while "morally laudable" in principal "still fails to deliver any kind of ethical solution."

"Any procedure that places at risk the health and life of a human embryo for purposes that do not directly benefit the embryo is morally unacceptable," said Reverend Tadeusz Pacholczyk, director of education at the National Catholic Bioethics Center.

Any procedure that places at risk the health and life of a human embryo for purposes that do not directly benefit the embryo is morally unacceptable

NHE wrote:Sometimes I really wish that people who make statements like the one quoted above would spend some time taking a few biology courses before they go off on their crusades.

But then, enough ranting for now.

NHE