Stem Cells at the National Academies. Eggs and Sperm from Stem Cells... Stem Cells at the National Academies. Genetics Policy Institute. Legal Analysis: Parsing the Stem Cell Case. Does human embryonic stem cell (hESC) research violate the law? And does it make sense to halt federal funding of the work while the courts weigh this question?
Yesterday, Chief Judge Royce Lamberth of the U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C., ordered that the funding ban he imposed 2 weeks ago stick for now . The Department of Justice is expected to appeal this ruling, making the case even more convoluted. Meanwhile, scientists nationwide, and especially at the National Institutes of Health (NIH), where all hESC work is at a standstill , are incensed and deeply unsettled by the case. Although moral opposition to hESC research is certainly helping drive Sherley v. Sebelius , the case also includes some tricky legal questions. First, do the plaintiffs, scientists studying adult stem cells, have the right to bring this case?
Here’s Science Insider’s stab at parsing each of these questions. Harm also must be viewed through the prism of wrongdoing. See our complete coverage of this issue. Life's Greatest Miracle | Watch the Program H. Life's Greatest Miracle PBS Airdate: November 20, 2001 NARRATOR: People do all sorts of things to get attention. And why? It may be the last thing on his mind, but this man's body is working toward this. Whether we're thinking about it or not, our bodies want to make babies. But as ordinary as it seems, creating a new human being is no simple feat.
How did you do it? Today, we can look closer than ever before: into the womb, into a cell, into the essence of life itself. NARRATOR: You might think all the people on this beach are just working on their suntans. Why is this urge so universal? DNA has run the show for more than four billion years for one main reason: it's very good at making copies of itself. If you're a bacterium, you might be into cloning—making exact replicas of yourself. It can also be dangerous. If humans were all clones, everyone would have the exact same immune system, and one successful parasite could wipe us all out.
Where there's sex, there's variety. Intelligent Design on Trial. Judgment Day: Intelligent Design on Trial PBS Airdate: November 13, 2007 NARRATOR: Dover, Pennsylvania: like much of the United States, Dover has become a town divided. ALAN BONSELL (Dover School Board Member): I personally don't believe in Darwin's theory of evolution. ROBERT ESHBACH (Dover Science Teacher): Saying that you don't believe in evolution is almost saying, for us, well, "We don't believe that the Civil War ever took place in the United States. " NARRATOR: Dover is split between those who accept Charles Darwin's theory of evolution and those who reject it. Signs of trouble first appeared after a Dover High School student painted a mural showing the evolution of humans from ape-like ancestors.
BERTHA SPAHR (Dover Science Teacher): It was a lovely piece of artwork, very well done artistically, and it did not offend me in any way. NARRATOR: But some in Dover were offended by the idea that humans and apes are related, and that mural was removed from the classroom and destroyed. What Darwin Never Knew. What Darwin Never Knew PBS Air Date: December 29, 2009 NARRATOR: One question: "Why is there such a stunning diversity of life? " One answer: "Evolution: Charles Darwin's brilliant theory that explains how species adapt and change. " It's been called the best idea anyone ever had. But there's one big problem: How does it actually work? Now, extraordinary science is answering that question. It is uncovering the hidden mechanisms inside creatures' bodies that can explain astonishing transformations like how birds can evolve from dinosaurs; why a fish was once your ancestor; and above all, what makes us human.
Right now on NOVA, you'll find out, What Darwin Never Knew. The tree of life on Earth, is one of stunning diversity: 9,000 species of birds, 350,000 kinds of beetles, 28,000 types of fish; 2,000,000 living species and counting. But why is there such an amazing variety of animals? Today we celebrate the man who would ultimately answer that question: Charles Darwin. SEAN B. ScienceNOW | Stem Cells Breakthrough. PBS Airdate: July 23, 2008 NEIL DeGRASSE TYSON: What if I made fettucini Alfredo and then decided what I really wanted was cheesecake? Could I turn one into the other? Well, maybe I could. If I could turn back time and go back to the original ingredients, then I could make something else, entirely.
This idea, of turning back the clock and rebuilding something from scratch is the basic premise behind stem cell research, which aims to transform one kind of cell into another. Correspondent Chad Cohen reports recent groundbreaking discoveries seem to be bringing them that much closer to their goal. AMIEL REID (Sickle Cell Anemia Patient): It feels like a lot of people are stabbing me with knives, from the inside of my body, all the way down to my bone. STEPHANIE TERMITUS (Sickle Cell Anemia Patient): I'm in tears, basically. CHAD COHEN (Correspondent): Stephanie Termitus and Amiel Reid know the inside of Children's Hospital Boston better than any teenager should. CHAD COHEN: It's amazing. ScienceNOW | Stem Cells. PBS Airdate: April 19, 2005 ROBERT KRULWICH: Nanoshells are little. They're very little. But little things matter. Remember how small a life is at the very beginning?
A fertilized human egg, a few days after conception, is so small that if we go back to our pin, I could place the embryo—here we go—on the tip, on the pointy tip of a pin, which raises the question, "When life is this small, this preliminary, how do we honor what's here? " There are scientists at Harvard—and you're going to meet them— who say it is sometimes right to use embryonic cells to investigate diseases and explore cures, while others say, "Yeah, but remember there is potential life. PATTY KIM (Correspondent): Lauren Stanford is a busy 13-year-old. LAUREN STANFORD: These ones are for, like, swim team. PATTY KIM: And she's got another major project, keeping herself alive. LAUREN STANFORD: At 7:15, I check my blood. PATTY KIM: Lauren has Type 1 or juvenile diabetes. PATTY KIM: Oh, wow. LAUREN STANFORD: That's a glucagon. - Stem Cell Research Facts- Adult Stem Cells. NIH Stem Cell Information Home Page.