This announcement placed Wisconsin in the center of a critical debate over the ethical implications of embryonic research. Briefly stated, stem cells are the parent cells of all tissues in the body. Stem cells may be derived from embryos, from adult human tissues and from umbilical cord blood. The unique quality of a stem cell is that it can form into a variety of major types of tissue in the body. In theory this quality enables scientists to replace diseased tissue with healthy tissue.
Some scientists favor research on embryonic stem cells.
They believe they are the most versatile of stem cells, with the greatest capacity to differentiate into different human tissues and therefore offer the most promise. However, in order to obtain embryonic stem cells for research, the embryo in which they are developing must be destroyed. As such it must be respected and protected. Catholic teaching regards science and technology as valuable tools that can serve noble ends such as curing disease, feeding the hungry, and furthering life in many other ways. As such they should be respected and encouraged.