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What about this one? According to Reuters, cells (technically called germ cells) have been taken from the human testes and turned into other key cells:

U.S. researchers said on Saturday they had transformed immature cells from men's testicles into powerful stem cells, which they then coaxed into becoming nerve, heart, and bone cells.

And lest anyone believe (as unfortunately many do) that only here in the U.S. is there serious opposition to destructive embryonic research, a recent piece in The Scientist warns that opponents in Europe may prevent the European Commission (now the semi-government of 25 nations) from funding such research.

Yet the press continues to give entirely false impressions. For example,

Properly coaxed, stem cells from embryos can form any part of the human body, including heart muscle or brain neurons. The cells are taken from five- to seven-day-old human embryos, a process that destroys the embryo.

Of course, there is no truth at all in this statement. These sentences read as if this process is already taking place—that "properly coaxed cells" that are "taken from five- to seven-day-old human embryos" have formed heart muscles and brain neurons and other "part[s] of the human body." Embryonic stem cells have yet to cure anyone, and they have had only marginal success with animals.

Copyright © 2006 Christianity Today. Click for reprint information.

For the latest findings on adult stem cells, see Do No Harm: The Coalition of Americans for Research Ethics.

Previous Life Matters columns include:

Outsourcing Birth: Let an Indian Woman Have Your Baby | Plus: Good news from Europe on stem-cell funding. (April 5, 2006)

The Abortion Agenda: South Dakota's Move in Context | Plus: The latest on the biopolicy agenda and some outrageous lies on stem cells. (March 30, 2006)

Our Cloning Friends, the Brits | The U.K. and disaffected American researchers lash out at U.S. cloning laws. (March 17, 2006)

The Truth, the Partial Truth, and Nothing but Evasions | How to sell unethical science. (March 2, 2006)

The Pursuit of Enhancement | The latest from Brave New Britain. (Feb. 22. 2006)

Poaching Eggs | The latest sad story from the Korean soap opera—and a lack of Talent in Missouri (Feb. 17, 2006)

The State of the Human | President Bush sets out a vital agenda for ethics. (Feb. 2, 2006)

Are You My Sperm Donor? | Plus: Another Hwang turn, more small surprises, and other life ethics stories. (Jan. 26, 2006)

More CT articles on bioethics are available on our Life Ethics page.

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April (Web-only) 2006, Vol. 50