Archbishop Meets Researcher As
Bioethical Debate Continues
SEOUL
(UCAN) -- The leader of the Korean Catholic Church met with the doctor
who has made headlines through his work on embryonic stem cells to discuss
the ethical implications of the controversial breakthrough.
Archbishop Nicholas Cheong Jin-suk of Seoul
met Doctor Hwang Woo-suk at the archbishop's office in Myongdong Cathedral
on June 15. Both agreed to respect human life, but they did not reach
a consensus on the bioethical issues surrounding the use of embryonic
stem cells. The meeting failed to narrow the gap between the views of
the Catholic Church and Hwang on whether or not a cloned embryo is a
human life.
Hwang took the initiative to set
up a meeting, after having expressed his willingness to meet Archbishop
Cheong and address the Church leader's criticism of the stem-cell research.
Society in general perceives the archbishop, as the head of Seoul archdiocese,
to be the visible leader of the Catholic Church in South Korea.
Father Mattias Huh Young-yup, Seoul
archdiocese's communication director, and Professor Ahn Kyu-ri, Hwang's
associate, also attended the closed-door meeting, which lasted 40 minutes.
Afterward, Father Huh released a summary of the discussion in an official
archdiocesan statement titled "Respect for Natural Order -- Conscience
of Scientists."
"Archbishop Nicholas Cheong
and Hwang talked about the various ways of stem-cell extraction and
bioethical issues including the beginning of human life and the usage
of women's eggs," Father Huh said in the statement.
"Archbishop Cheong said he is
not against stem-cell research itself, but he opposes embryonic stem-cell
research using cloned human embryos, that is, human life (in the form
of) living beings," Father Huh said.
The term "human embryos"
reflects Catholic teaching that life begins from the moment of conception
and that destruction of a human embryo is the taking of human life.
In criticizing Hwang's results, Church leaders also pointed out that
the technique could lead to the cloning of human beings, rather than
to the therapeutic use of stem cells, which are currently a topic of
research in the treatment of serious diseases and conditions such as
Alzheimer's disease.
Hwang countered that his stem-cell
research does not involve the process of fertilization, of a sperm and
egg coming together. The researcher "provided a detailed explanation,
saying there is no scientific basis that his stem cells can be developed
into a living being since there is no possibility of implantation,"
the statement said.
"Archbishop Cheong asked Hwang
to respect and accept social worries and recommendations as much as
possible with an open mind as a scientist, since high-end scientific
research often progresses too fast for ethical rules to deal with,"
it added.
On June 16, Father Huh told UCA News,
"Archbishop Cheong reaffirmed the Catholic Church's official stand
that the cloned embryos are obviously human lives, and he proposed the
alternative of research using adult stem cells, which is free from bioethical
controversy."
At the meeting, he said, the
two sides agreed to respect human life but maintained different views
on cloned embryos. "However, the meeting itself was still meaningful
for the discussion of the bioethical issues."
Hwang and his co-workers at
Seoul National University published their research on the cloning of
patient-specific stem cells in the May issue of the journal "Science."
Their breakthrough research used genetic material from skin cells of
11 patients with serious diseases or spinal-cord injuries.
By inserting the DNA into eggs
donated by unpaid volunteers, the researchers successfully produced
blastocysts, or early-stage embryos, from which they took stem cells
genetically matched to each of the patients, destroying the embryos
in the process.
Embryonic stem cells can develop
into the various specialized cells that form organs and other parts
of the body. Medical research is exploring their use to renew or replace
damaged or deteriorated tissue and organs. Adult stem cells are seen
as less flexible and harder to work with than embryonic cells.
Meanwhile, the Korean Catholic
bishops issued a statement on June 4 opposing Hwang's research. In it
the bishops asserted that the research is "anti-life because he
clones and destroys an embryo, which is human life."
The bishops pointed out that
using embryonic stem cells "is not the only way" to treat
such diseases. "Adult stem cells, which have been proved already
to be effective clinically, are relatively safe and do not have any
moral problem," they said.
KO8435.1346 June 20, 2005
