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Now the family is faced with the sinking realization that "it was all a big lie," said Kim Je Eon, the boy's 43-year-old father.

The family's saga captures at its most vivid the disappointment felt by millions around the world.

The "cures" argument in defense of stem-cell research, however flimsy its case, is hard to beat. But as high-tech snake-oil is offered in defense of ethically problematic science, we need to remember Kim Hyeoni and his parents.

Copyright © 2006 Christianity Today. Click for reprint information.

Previous Life Matters columns include:

The Prospects for 2006 | Deeper into the (Christian?) biotech century. (Jan. 9 2006)

Peter Singer Meets Dr. Hwang | The ethics of the Brave New World. (Jan. 5, 2006)

Bethlehem's Bioethics | Christmas in the early 21st century. (Dec. 22, 2005)

A Common Cause for Our Common Humanity | Left and right come together in defense of us. (Dec. 14, 2005)

Face Off—and Back On | Face transplants raise more questions than answers. (Dec. 8, 2005)

Bioethics in Narnia? | C. S. Lewis was way ahead of the curve. (Nov. 30, 2005)

Inventing Ethics | A collaborator walks out on the South Korean cloning genius, citing ethical lapses. (Nov. 18, 2005)

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

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January (Web-only) 2006, Vol. 50