WHOSE VIEW OF LIFE? Embryos, Cloning, and Stem Cells

At what point does an embryo or fetus become "human"? This question is at the core of today's battle over stem cell research, and that battle, Maienschein believes, is central to questions about the respective roles of science and morality in a democracy. Maienschein, director of the Center for Biology and Society at Arizona State University, puts the question of when life begins in historical and philosophical context. Thomas Aquinas and other early Christian theologians followed Aristotle's view that the fetus acquired first a vegetable soul, then an animal soul and, finally, a rational soul; abortion before the rational ensoulment was not murder. For centuries, the author explains, knowledge of human development in the womb was limited to observation of miscarried or aborted fetuses or to studying animal gestation. In the mid–19th century, the science of embryology came into being, and of course only in the late 20th century were scientists able to use imaging technology such as ultrasound to watch the development of the fetus. Maienschein then moves from history to current science and policy. A former congressional science adviser, she knows how government works—and fails to work—when it comes to setting policy on complex issues like cloning. She believes that George W. Bush's 2001 decision to limit stem cell research to lines that existed at that time is shortsighted, but she presents a balanced account of the controversy. This book should be required reading for anyone trying to understand the scientific and ethical issues that will dominate medicine in the next quarter century. (Nov.)