Re:s/creating/destroying (Score 1)

It seems to me that the ethical issues are just going to get messier as our technology gets more sophisticated. What do we do if it turns out that one of these 'tweaked' stem cells can be turned into an embryo by some relatively simple technical process? It looks to me as if we're going to eventually have to make some relatively arbitrary decisions about where the line between potential life and just a blob of cells is drawn. If we ultimately can take any human cell and turn it into a nascent embryo (and I would suspect that a blob of stem cells isn't that far off) then any chunk of human flesh is a potential child and any stem cell is a potential embryo. Personally, it seems to me that you've got a similar issue with a human egg and a sperm sample...if you just let them combine (and how much simpler a process can you get) then you've got a potential human being. Is the process of refusing to allow the sperm to fertilize the egg different in kind from failing to implant a fertilized egg in a woman? If so, how so? We choose an arbitrary point in the process (and one that in nature still has a prettyt good chance of naturally failing to produce a child...may eggs fail to implant in the natural conception process) and draw the line there. I find it hard to see this as anything more than an arbitrary decision...