Alternative Techniques

There are other methods also in development including alternative extraction procedures.  One such example is the extraction of only a handful of stem cells and developing a kind of culture farm by splicing, therefore leaving the embryo intact and capable of further development.  This apparently is a very slow and inefficient process and has still failed to appease pro-life human rights movements which is understandable as I myself wouldn't be too pleased with going out on the town one night only to wake up in an ice bath with only a cell phone and an 'IOU' note for company.

Another method worth looking at is Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells, which are mature or adult stem cells that have been treated so they may function in the same manner as Embryonic Stem Cells in terms of developmental capacity.  Short of synthesizing fully artificial cells, this is arguably one of the best options once the theory has been proven and efficient developmental processes implemented.  In a nutshell, stem cells could eventually be harvested from a patient then re-engineered as a treatment, effectively eliminating the need to destroy or modify an embryo.