Cognitive Labs

"Clones can think creatively. You will find that they are immensely superior to droids."

And now the reality...

Scientists in La Jolla, California say they have produced embryos that are clones of two men, a potential step toward developing scientifically valuable stem cells. The new report documents embryos made with ordinary skin cells. But it's not the first time human cloned embryos have been made. In 2005, for example, scientists in Britain reported using embryonic stem cells to produce a cloned embryo. It matured enough to produce stem cells, but none were extracted.

Dr. Samuel Wood, a co-author of the new paper and chief executive of Stemagen Corp., said he and his colleagues are now attempting to produce stem cell lines from the embryos.

The work was published by the journal Stem Cells.



Scientists say stem cells from cloned embryos could provide a valuable tool for studying diseases, screening drugs and, perhaps someday, creating transplant material to treat conditions like diabetes and Parkinson's disease.

Opposition to cloning is led by, amongst others, the U.S. Council of Bishops. Perhaps a philosophical angle to take in support of cloning's potential draws on the Greek word techne, wherein, according to Socrates, utilitarian crafts are higher than art. Whereas, the idea of imitation of reality-exemplified by art, is of a lower order. The Church followed this interpretation of Socratic thinking especially after the Council of Nicaea and the writings of Augustine-a former attorney and self-described hedonist who became a holy man. Later thinkers such as Aquinas and Spinoza also contributed to the encoding of dualistic thinking in Western religious thought.

Techne at the Stanford philosophical library

Labels: aquinas, augustine, cloners, clones, nicaea, spinoza, wood