Frozen Assets

Every once in a while, Fredo the Frozen reminds Umbert's readers of the plight of America's 500,000+ frozen embryos in fertility labs across the nation. Aside from the fact that these are living human beings, endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, there are a host of other issues, moral and legal, surrounding the existence of these members of the frozen brood section. In many cases they are being treated not as human beings, but as products; nameless, faceless objects as part of a business transaction between a couple and the fertility clinic. How long before they become available on the open market as brand-able merchandise? (Didn't we already fight a civil war over the buying and selling of human beings?) I can just see the TV commercials hawking human embryos and extolling the quality of their genetic makeup. Soon prospective parents will be able to shop for hair and eye color as well as intellectual vs athletic ability. Then there's the issue of using unwanted embryos for scientific and medical research, still a hotly debated topic in American politics. And why are there so many embryos in cold storage in the first place? Obviously, more embryos are created than are actually needed to ensure enough "material" to guarantee a successful pregnancy. The leftovers go right into the freezer with a future about as uncertain as last night's leftover meatloaf. Thus, we leave poor Fredo in suspended animation wondering when, if ever, he will finally get a womb of his own.

Should God Sue for Patent Infringement?

Recently the Supreme Court ruled that human genes could not be patented, opening the door to greater competition in the search for more cures for cancer and other deadly diseases. This ruling invalidates more than 22,000 patents issued on human genes. People doing life-saving research had to worry about being sued for infringing on these patents while patients whose lives were ticking time bombs anxiously awaited breakthroughs, regardless of whose brand name was stamped on it. What were these scientists thinking? Didn't God invent the human gene? If anyone has the right to call a lawyer, it should be the Almighty. But God, in His infinite mercy, instead gave us a thinking brain capable of unlocking the life-saving secrets of His universe, including the microscopic universe which serves as the foundation for human life. These secrets, so long as they are not used to destroy human life or violate God's Natural Law, belong to everybody. Granted laboratories have the right to financial gain from their discoveries, because profits from these discoveries enable them to continue their research. But to grant any lab a monopoly on genetic research would be like giving NASA a patent on the planet Mars. The court rightly ruled that the objects of discovery belong to everybody. This is great news for cancer patients and others who simply cannot wait indefinitely for the cures that desperately need discovering.