Breakpoint

I was first introduced to the book "Breakpoint" by Richard A. Clarke while resting in my Nanshan Hospital room after a lumbar punch. It was an audio book that I downloaded from Apple's iTunes. It touches on so many of the issues pertaining to my recent trip to China and my own experiences at home:

• stem cell therapy
• China's emergence as a world power
• the World Wide Web
  
• Cambridge, Massachusetts
  
• two of its major universities,
  
• the Charles Hotel in Cambridge

• the Googleplex in Mountain View, CA
  
• bionic parents and techno-children (see link below)
  

http://www.salon.com/mwt/feature/2007/05/09/everything_conceivable/?source=newsletter

Now for my 2 cents.... what are the ethics concerning stem cell therapy? Should it be restricted to correcting nature's defects and/or injury or could it be used to enhance our lives? How will stem cell therapy affect the natural evolution process? Is there a gray area?

Is stem cell therapy just for the wealthy? How else does the cost and knowledge come?
Here is my opinion regarding the first question.

• What are the ethics for stem cell therapy?
  

• To the extent that we understand what is "wrong", correcting the disease or injury is reasonable. For example, restoring a person's health after paralysis due to spinal cord injury seems reasonable. I would include correcting for a known defect. This doesn't deal with the matter of testing for potential "defects" which is a volatile question in and by itself.
  
• Enhancing the genetic makeup without a known "deficiency" seems wrong. As depicted in the book, designer babies where one buys features like shopping for a car caters to the wealthy.
• Is there a gray area? Taking advantage of an opportunity to apply the latest and greatest technology falls in this category. To imagine what I'm referring to, think of The Six Million Dollar Man . Also, NBC's Fall 2007 TV lineup includes the Bionic Woman.
  

Take a look at the book or listen to the audio version. I highly recommend it.

• Is stem cell therapy just for the wealthy?
  
• How else does the cost come down and the experience come about? There seem to be very few organizations willing to foot the bill. Even the "wealthy", as individuals, cannot sustain such an effort on a broad front. The primary thrust needs to come from the support of governments which are among the few institutions large enough to support such an effort.
  

A note on my progress. After returning from LA, I re-sprained my left ankle, The good news is that it isn't broken or fractured. The bad news is that I restarted the healing time after two and a half weeks and the ankle is still a little swollen.