by Dorothy C. Wertz

About the author: Social scientist and ethicist Dorothy C. Wertz is coediter of the Gene Letter, an electronic newsletter that focuses on genetics, ethics, and public policy.

Scientists have isolated and grown embryonic cells that are capable of becoming many different organs, if given the proper genetic directions. On November 6, 1998, the New York Times reported that two groups of researchers, one headed by Dr. James A. Thomson of the University of Wisconsin, Madison, and the other by Dr. John Gearhart of Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, had succeeded in growing human stem cells in the laboratory. The hope is that these could be used to grow organs for transplantation. Since the Federal Government has consistently refused to support research on the human embryo or embryonic cells, both projects were funded by...