Tangwa Godfrey B
Department of Philosophy, University of Yaounde 1, Cameroon.
Bioethics. 2007 Oct;21(8):449-57. doi: 10.1111/j.1467-8519.2007.00582.x.
One of the most important as well as most awesome achievements of modern biotechnology is the possibility of cloning human embryonic stem cells, if not human beings themselves. The possible revolutionary role of such stem cells in curative, preventive and enhancement medicine has been voiced and chorused around the globe. However, the question of the moral status of embryonic stem cells has not been clearly and unequivocally answered. Taking inspiration from the African adage that 'the hand that reaches beneath the incubating hen is not guiltless', I attempt answering this question, from the background of traditional African moral sensibility and sensitivity. I reach the following conclusions. Stem cells in themselves do not have human status and therefore lack moral worth/value. Embryos do have human status and a morally significant line cannot be drawn between human embryos and other human beings. What is morally at stake in stem cell research is therefore the question of the source of derivation or generation of the cells, not of the cells as such.
现代生物技术最重要且最令人惊叹的成就之一，便是克隆人类胚胎干细胞的可能性，即便不是克隆人类本身。这类干细胞在治疗、预防和增强医学中可能发挥的革命性作用，已在全球范围内得到广泛提及和响应。然而，胚胎干细胞的道德地位问题尚未得到清晰明确的解答。受非洲谚语“伸进孵蛋母鸡身下的手并非无辜”启发，我尝试从传统非洲道德观念和敏感度的背景出发，回答这个问题。我得出以下结论。干细胞本身并不具有人类身份，因此缺乏道德价值。胚胎具有人类身份，且无法在人类胚胎与其他人类之间划出具有道德意义的界限。所以，干细胞研究中道德风险的关键在于细胞的来源或产生问题，而非细胞本身。
