Can scientists use hESC to do Zika experiemnts?

[Zenzi]

I found an article about Zika virus

Scientists are using human embryonic stem cells to provide evidence that Zika virus causes microcephaly

Why is nobody talking about that? Can we use human embryonic stem cells to do research about Zika virus??

 

[Fr.Charles_Grondin]

While the Church has no opposition to experiments and research involving stem cells obtained from adults or umbilical cords, the Church absolutely opposes obtaining stem cells through the destruction of embryos.

Evangelium Vitae:

1. …the Church has always taught and continues to teach that the result of human procreation, from the first moment of its existence, must be guaranteed that unconditional respect which is morally due to the human being in his or her totality and unity as body and spirit: “The human being is to be respected and treated as a person from the moment of conception; and therefore from that same moment his rights as a person must be recognized, among which in the first place is the inviolable right of every innocent human being to life”.

Pontifical Academy for Life:

The first ethical problem, which is fundamental, can be formulated thus: Is it morally licit to produce and/or use living human embryos for the preparation of ES cells?

1. No end believed to be good, such as the use of stem cells for the preparation of other differentiated cells to be used in what look to be promising therapeutic procedures, can justify an intervention of this kind. A good end does not make right an action which in itself is wrong.

Pope Benedixt XV’s Stem Cells: What Future for Therapy?

May I also point out, in the face of the frequently unjust accusations of insensitivity addressed to the Church, her constant support for research dedicated to the cure of diseases and to the good of humanity throughout her 2,000-year-old history.

If there has been resistance - and if there still is - it was and is to those forms of research that provide for the planned suppression of human beings who already exist, even if they have not yet been born. Research, in such cases, irrespective of efficacious therapeutic results is not truly at the service of humanity…

…I would like to repeat here what I already wrote some time ago: Here there is a problem that we cannot get around; no one can dispose of human life. An insurmountable limit to our possibilities of doing and of experimenting must be established. The human being is not a disposable object, but every single individual represents God’s presence in the world…

…A good result can never justify intrinsically unlawful means. It is not only a matter of a healthy criterion for the use of limited financial resources, but also, and above all, of respect for the fundamental human rights in the area of scientific research itself.