Ken Nelson

Drudge has this headline:

The report he links to has this headline:

But that isn’t the case. Male stem cells are needed to make sperm, and female stem cells to create an egg.  The physical act of sex is replaced, as are some of the mechanics of human biology. But men and woman are needed. The major difference is that you don’t have to convince somebody to mate with you, you just have to somehow get a hold of their DNA.  

This kind of research excites hope and fear. Hope for fertility: I know couples that are infertile due to the mechanics of their plumbing.  Lots of 2nd marriages would like kids but the Dad’s first wife had him “fixed”.  And fear for the drastic cultural change that such technology enables.  Markets for the DNA of symmetrical, athletic and smart people come to mind as one culture shattering possibility.

I’m excited by science like this. My one, maybe show stopper, concern is mistakes on the way.  How do we do this without the first, second, or 1000th attempt creating some cruel mistake? Can this be done without killing creations on the way?

I don’t know and I don’t want to create anything human until we are sure.

But I do know that headlines like the ones above do more on the fear end of thinking about this than create hope.