Fresh Fruit

The White House is heralding the news that stem cells may be made from any number of human tissues, not just fetal tissue, as if George the Turd did the research himself, down in the basement, with his little science kit. The scientists that are doing this research receive no US government funding and couldn't care less about the "culture of life". They're just doing what scientists do, finding out new stuff. While this news seems like a vindication of Bush's fundo-political pseudo-theology, it may not be the answer to all his dreams. It may turn out that fetal stem cells are easier, cheaper and more versatile to use, for medical purposes, than other types of cells, which will put the US competitively behind the efforts of other nations. It may be that any number of other dark anti-fundi scenarios will emerge.

It turns out, that if you can turn non fetal tissue into stem cells, you can also produce zygotes and gametes artificially, without the products of testes or ovaries. Not only is this true but you can produce sperm from the tissues of a female and eggs from the tissues of a male, just as easily as the other way around. So, what is a male, if not a producer of sperm and what is a female if not a producer of eggs. In the future, a person with no sexual organs or secondary sexual characteristics, whatsoever, could be either a mother or a father, or both, having a child entirely composed of it's own genetic material, completely different from a clone. Is this news going to be hailed as a victorious milestone by Poindexter Bush, down in his little basement science lab? It don't seem likely, do it?

This is the kind of scientific advance which will call into question everything we have previously thought about sexuality and gender from a purely clinical perspective. It is likely to incite debate about what constitutes parenthood and the nature of family. How will this kind of scientific advance affect the theological stylings of such uberfundofaggots as Pope Ratso, Dr Jimminycricket Dobson or Patmyprostate Robertson? God only knows.