Working with Stem Cells

[MDPhD]

Hello everyone,

I hope I am asking this in the correct place. I am an undergraduate student that has been working in a lab for the last year or so. I originally joined the lab because the work seemed interesting, however I did not know much about biology when I joined. I saw that it said “use of pluripotent stem cells” while looking over the website. Foolish me thought that was different than embryonic human stem cells, well turns out they are the same thing. Some are from IVF, others from abortions. I was shocked and disgusted honestly. I only learned about this a couple months ago and have been really regretting joining, I have been working less and less in the lab mainly due to my conscious. I asked another online catholic forum and they said that it would be okay as long as I did not work directly with the cells. Thankfully my project does not deal with human embryonic stem cells, or any stem cells at all. But I might use adult stem cells (the ones the church allows), which is fine for me. But I wanted to get a second opinion. Is it still a sin for me to work in this lab, even though I do not work with the embryonic stem cells directly?

Thank you for the help!

 

[NuclearReceptor]

I am not sure about sin or degree of culpability, but are you sure they’re not induced pluripotent stem cells derived from reprogramming differentiated cells? In that case, since no embryos were destroyed, there’s no sin involved, I think.

 

[MDPhD]

Hello NuclearReceptor,

Thank you for the reply. I originally thought that they were induced pluripotent stem cells, I just thought that pluripotent stem cells was a way of shortening the name. But it seems that induced pluripotent stem cells are not the same as pluripotent stem cells, also know as embryonic. I knew that the professor did work some earlier work with mouse embryonic cells in his career, which is fine and I believe permissible, but now he has transitioned to human embryonic cells since I joined. Unfortunately he confirmed this to me a couple weeks ago, saying that these cells originate from implanting a sperm and egg though in vitro fertilization (which I originally thought was fine, but soon learned that it was not permissible in the church I believe?), and another source is from an abortion clinic (made me sick to my stomach).

I found this quote:

Stem cells can be derived from these morally acceptable sources: Embryonic Germ Cells (from miscarriages or spontaneous abortions and not elective abortions), Umbilical Cord Stem Cells, Placenta-derived Stem Cells, Post-Natally Derived (Adult) Stem cells, De-Differentiation Strategies (provided it doesn’t go so far as to make a human embryo), and Reprogramming Strategies (as long it generates a distinctly non-embryonic entity).

 

[MDPhD]

Hello everyone,

I was at confession today and the Priest told me that he does not believe it is a sin as long I focus on my work and do not use the human embryonic stem cells.