Vatican forbids designer babies

Document outlines biomedical ethics
Julia Duin
Friday, December 12, 2008

Designer babies, human/animal hybrids, cloning, stem cell research and a whole range of common biomedical innovations are forbidden, the Vatican said Friday in a document about procreation and genetic technologies.

But gene therapies, some fertility treatments and possibly embryo "adoption" are allowed, according to Dignitatis Personae, a 32-page document. It was penned by Cardinal William J. Levada, the American who heads the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, the Vatican's doctrinal arm, and his staff.

The title, which means "the dignity of a person" in Latin, stresses repeatedly why an embryo must be treated as a person even before implantation on the uterine wall. It merits "unconditional respect" from the moment of conception, which occurs as soon as an egg is fertilized, thus creating a genetically distinct individual. the rest