Embryonic Stem Cell Research and the Protection of Human Life
Embryonic Stem Cell Research and the Protection of Human Life

Summary/Abstract: The study deals with the question of using excedentary human pre-embryos produced for in vitro fertilization for experimentation purposes. A first section analyzes the pertinent official teaching of the Roman Catholic Church, which claims that pre-embryos have to receive the same protection outside or inside the mother’s body that is due to innocent persons. The Church does not state explicitly that they are in fact human persons, but referring to the evidence of life-sciences affirms that they carry a genetic code, which determines their individual characteristics and directs their continuous development to full personhood. Consequently, unrestricted protection is due to them lest we expose ourselves to the danger of destroying innocent human life. In the second part the paper analyzes the evidence of life sciences, and finds that the empirical evidence is not convincing, it needs critical interpretation, and there is no consensus among the experts on this question. Recent evidence suggests that the genetic code has to be activated by an intensive information exchange with the maternal environment to initiate the process of individualization. The third part draws conclusions and articulates a strong probability confirmed by already available scientific evidence that without establishing this relationship with the maternal environment a zygote will never become a newborn child.

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