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TechnoratiThe eggs are rare and hard to come by. Embryonic stem cell research requires such a significant number of eggs that would render the study inefficient if not impossible.
Furthermore, ethical questions have been raised over the process used to harvest the eggs since it subjects the women donating them to a surgical procedure. Whether women should be paid for the eggs is also an ethical concern.
The new approach to producing human stem cells will “circumvent a second series of moral objections by providing a method for obtaining patient-matched stem cells without cloning human embryos or using women's eggs,” expressed the National Catholic Bioethics Center in an issued statement.
“Once again science is catching up to ethics, proving that the moral way is the most sound, scientific choice,” said Wendy Wright, president of Concerned Women for America.
“This breakthrough allows scientists to further their research and continue to develop medical advances while still honoring the sanctity of life.”
Wright, who heads the nation's largest public policy women's organization, also said the new method will allow lawmakers to be rest assured when they discontinue pursuing “politically-charged” policies that fund stem cell research which destroys embryos.
“What has too often been missing from this important debate is a simple fact of modern science: Encouraging medical research and protecting the sanctity of life are not mutually exclusive goals,” said Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.).
While supporters of embryonic stem cell research acknowledged the advantages of direct programming, some still believe it should be done alongside embryonic stem cell research.
Sen. Tom Harkin (D-Iowa), who has pushed for federal funding of embryonic stem cell research, said he will continue to do so, reported CNN.
But the technique has one major figure in the scientific community convinced.
Cloning pioneer Ian Wilmut, famous for his role in cloning Dolly the sheep, told London's Daily Telegraph last week that he is giving up the cloning approach and plans to instead pursue direct reprogramming, which he believes to have “better potential” in producing stem cells.
Stem-cell pioneer James Thomson of the University of Wisconsin-Madison cited scientific motivations for pursuing research using the reprogramming technique.
"We weren't avoiding the ethical controversy—we just thought this was an alternative approach that would work quicker," Thomson told the Associated Press.
"I believe that these new results, while they don't end that controversy, are the beginning of the end of the controversy," he added.
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