"That's rather an extreme possition"

Most, if not all, medical research today is scrutinized by an ethics committee before it is undertaken so the fear or "anarchical research" is a canard. My statement assumed that the researcher would be working within the framework of an accredited research institution and not in some basement laboratory.

Mick, no need to get defensive as I wasn't directing my remark to you, rather I was suggesting that a personal ethic should be formed by examining the issues that are pertinent to it.

As you can imagine there is much debate taking place on this issue in university ethics departments. This obsevation is from Dr. Margaret Somerville, a medical ethicist with whom I was privileged to work with on a research project:

"A minimum amount of time is also needed for the public to become familiar with the benefits, potential benefits, risks, and harms of a new scientific development, not only at the physical level, but also at the level of its potential impact on values, norms, traditions, customs, culture, beliefs, and attitudes." What seems clear is that we, both as individuals and as a society, have not had adequate ethics time to determine what role embryonic research should play in a human society.

It is taken from this paper which looks at the religious, ethical and legal arguments surrounding this issue: http://www.medicine.mcgill.ca/mjm/issues/v07n01/crossroads/crossroads.htm