Embryos Archives

Bioethics expert says ‘de-valuing’ human beings is 21st century malady
- Sep 18, 2017
Dr. John Haas, President of the National Catholic Bioethics Center, says that beneath specific conundrums that arise in the field of bioethics these days lies a deeper challenge that the Catholic Church is uniquely equipped to address: A ‘de-valuing’ of human beings, which turns the weak and vulnerable into commodities to be exploited by the wealthy and powerful.

By John L. Allen Jr.
Colorado case spotlights divorce dilemma on frozen embryos
- Aug 29, 2017
After Sofia Vergara’s court battle over frozen embryos made news, other cases are coming to light. In Colorado one woman is fighting to keep her embryos for future implantation while her ex-husband wants them to be destroyed.

By Shannon Levitt
We need to resist brave new world of ‘Gattaca’ before it’s too late
- Aug 7, 2017
It became official this week: We can now edit the genetic material of embryos. It’s being hailed as a major breakthrough to fight disease, but as the movie “Gattaca” so brilliantly demonstrated two decades ago, there are numerous, profound ethical questions when such a practice is normalized. If we wait for our grandchildren to resolve them, it will be too late.

By Charles C. Camosy

Pope didn’t endorse animal/human hybrids, but expert says ‘We can talk’

Feb 6, 2016

In a recent interview with Scientific American, a Spanish biologist named Juan Carlos Izpisua Belmonte at the California-based Salk Institute claimed that Pope Francis had given an ethical thumbs-up to research on animal/human genetic hybrids. After that report made the rounds, the Vatican issued a swift denial: “It’s absolutely unfounded

By John L. Allen Jr.

A Catholic dilemma: Should IVF embryos be adopted?

Dec 3, 2015

As more Americans than ever before turn to in vitro fertilization to create families, a surprising ethical question — what to do with thousands of embryos stuck in a sort of frozen limbo — is dividing US Catholics who call themselves pro-life, with some calling for the embryos to be adopted, while

By Michael O'Loughlin