Sunday, February 10, 2008. 10 AM
Faith and Bio-ethics
The Sunday Forum: Critical Issues in the Light of Faith
The Very Rev. Samuel T. Lloyd III, host
Two guests—filmmaker Maria Finitzo and bioethicist Cynthia B. Cohen—join Cathedral Dean Samuel T. Lloyd III to talk about “Faith and Bioethics.”
Finitzo discusses her new documentary, Mapping Stem Cell Research: Terra Incognita. “What is the responsibility of scientists when they’re doing this research?” she asks rhetorically, citing the controversies that surround the research. In making her film, she found that the media do not address the topic of stem cell research adequately, either in range or depth. While ethical questions about human embryos are covered by reporters, related aspects of social justice are less frequently aired.
Cohen, author of Renewing the Stuff of Life: Stem Cells, Ethics, and Public Policy, gives a brief primer about adult, fetal, and embryonic human stem cells. She also reports that some 500,000 frozen embryos are stored in laboratories in the United States today. Most were produced through in vitro fertilization. Because only a limited number of fertilized embryos are transferred into patients, the remaining embryos are frozen four or five days into their development. Although adoption of stem cells has been encouraged, Cohen speculates that a supply so large would not likely be used in this way. She perceives a need for standards to be developed to guide the various stem cell research efforts that are taking place.
“The hope is that they can transplant [stem cells] into sick people,” Cohen summarizes. A Parkinson’s disease patient, for example, might ultimately receive stem cells to halt the progress of the disease. Cohen discusses recent and older theological views of the sanctity of life, and suggests essential differences between an embryo in a laboratory and a fetus inside a woman’s body.
Finitzo’s film, recently premiered at the Cathedral, explores several viewpoints about stem cell research. The film profiles Dr. Jack Kessler, head of neurology at Northwestern University, who changed the focus of his laboratory research after his daughter’s spine was injured in a catastrophic accident. In the film, paralyzed patients discuss their hopes that stem cell research might yield a cure, and also the limitations of hope.
About Cynthia B. Cohen
Cynthia B. Cohen, bioethicist, is the author of Renewing the Stuff of Life: Stem Cells, Ethics, and Public Policy.
About Maria Finitzo
Maria Finitzo is a filmmaker. Finitzo’s film, recently premiered at the Cathedral, explores several viewpoints about stem cell research. Finitzo also recently produced a documentary, Mapping Stem Cell Research: Terra Incognita.