The New York Times reported today that teams of scientists from Wisconsin and Japan have turned “human skin cells into what appear to be embryonic stem cells without having to make or destroy an embryo.” While work remains to be done, the scientists are quite confident of their work. “By any means we test them they are the same as embryonic stem cells,” according to Dr. James Thomson, one of the researchers at the University of Wisconsin.

For years an ethical debate has raged regarding the destruction of living human embryos. A Line of Sight previously addressed the issue with our essay “The hypocrisy of the stem cell debate“ and in a guest feature “Saving lives without sacrificing life” by Congressman Phil Gingrey (R-GA), one of the champions for the defense of life in Congress. It has been clear for some time that alternative techniques, other than destruction of fertilized human embryos, likely exist for research scientists who understandably want to pursue the theoretical possibilities that stem cells may one day provide for treatment of various diseases. However, most proponents have focused solely on human embryo research igniting an ethical impasse for those that defend human life from conception to natural death. This research breakthrough may be “a feat that could quell the ethical debate troubling the field,” according to the Times.

Naturally, pro-life advocates and faith organizations have been intimately involved in the stem cell debate, and have longed for a breakthrough. “Everyone was waiting for this day to come,” said the Rev. Tadeusz Pacholczyk, director of education at the National Catholic Bioethics Center. “You should have a solution here that will address the moral objections that have been percolating for years,” he added.