The center promotes Catholic teaching on issues such as abortion, euthanasia and genetic engineering. Elizabeth Fox-Genovese, a scholar and women's historian, who has written extensively about race. Dr. John Optiz, a specialist in pediatric medical genetics at Primary Children's Medical Center in Salt Lake City. Dr. Thomas Shannon, a Catholic bioethicist from Worcester, Mass., said the speakers, as well as the organizers of the workshop, fall lockstep with the Vatican's thinking on moral issues. Vatican experts are divided over bioethical questions, to the point of disagreeing publicly over stem cell research.
Stem cells occur in early stages of embryonic development.
At issue is whether a new method involves an actual embryo. Catholic teaching forbids destroying human embryos or using them for experimentation. The genome debate is equally perplexing for church leaders. They have listened cautiously as scientists discuss potential medical advances from the mapping of the human genetic code. It's so helpful.