CONTENTS -- Foreword by Mahendra Rao -- Introduction by Lars Østnor -- Contributors -- 1 The Moral Status of Human Embryos with Special Regard to Stem Cell Research and Therapy -- Part I Biological and Medical Perspectives -- 2 Stem Cells: Sources and Clinical Applications -- 3 Alternative Means to Obtain Pluripotent Stem Cells -- 4 Neurogenesis and Potential Use of Stem Cells from Adult Human Brain -- 5 Can We Use Human Embryonic Stem Cells to Treat Brain and Spinal Cord Injury and Disease? -- 6 Stem Cells, Embryos and Ethics: Is There a Way Forward? -- Part II Social and Political Perspectives -- 7 An Intercultural Perspective on Human Embryonic Stem Cell Research -- 8 Human Embryo Research: The European Perspective -- 9 Stem Cells, Pluralism and Moral Empathy -- Part III Philosophical Perspectives -- 10 The Potentiality Argument and Stem Cell Research -- 11 Can the Distinction between the Moral and the Descriptive Support a Full Moral Standing of an Embryo? -- 12 The Beginning of Individual Human Life -- 13 Embryonic Stem Cell Research - Arguments of the Ethical Debate in Germany -- 14 The Question of Human Cloning in the Context of the Stem Cell Debate -- Part IV Theological Perspectives -- 15 Stem Cells from Human Embryos for Research? The Theological Discussion Within Christianity -- 16 Theological Arguments in the Human Stem Cell Debate: A Critical Evaluation -- 17 Human Embryos and Embryonic Stem Cells - Ethical Aspects -- Index.