No, AdvanceUSA has not become a Star Wars fan site, but we are concerned about the multi-part battle over human cloning going on in Missouri and its implications for the sanctity of human life. Here are two important items relating to this issue.
Bruce R. Williams, a Missouri physician, has written an important op-ed piece entitled “Human Cloning's Curtain Call” in which he explains how recent scientific breakthroughs make the quest for human cloning and embryonic stem cell research totally unnecessary. Now that scientists can obtain induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSC) from regular skin cells that have been coaxed into an embryonic-like state, the major argument for cloning human embryos for research is completely obliterated. It is also important for citizens to hear from people they trust (like doctors and scientists) who understand the science of the issue but also oppose violating ethical standards by using and destroying human life like a commodity. To hear about other scientists, doctors, and ethicists who oppose human cloning check out the Missouri Cures Without Cloning website.

Noted writer, lawyer, and bioethicist Wesley J. Smith responds to a recent column by cloning promoter Donn Rubin. Smith often exposes the distortions and outright deceptions frequently employed by the pro-cloning “Coalition for Life Saving Cures” and his latest piece, “The Mendacity of Missouri Coalition for Life Saving Cures”, calls Rubin to task for downplaying the significance of the recent breakthrough in ethical stem cell research, iPSC (induced pluripotent stem cells).
Check out AdvanceUSA’s human cloning page for more cloning information and news from Missouri.