Church vs. Science: Stem Cells - Mary Gooch

Church vs. Science: Stem Cells 

Going to a Catholic school and studying science can sometimes get confusing. The beliefs of the Church and science contradict one another in many ways, for example, regarding evolution. Darwin vs. God, creating the universe in six days, and resting on the seventh. In this slide deck, my team and I specifically looked at how the Church and science may disagree or agree about Stem cell research and the use of Stem cell therapy.

Church vs. Science: Stem Cells

Before researching, my team and I thought that the Church would support adult Stem cell therapy and research, but that the Church would not support embryonic Stem cell therapy or research. After researching, we found our prediction to be true! Quotes from two popes, an academic article, and an educational video, supporting adult Stem cell therapy and research, and opposing the use of embryos for Stem cell therapy and research. This is because, according to the Church, life begins at conception, and because the embryos cannot express consent for anything, the embryos should never be in the face of harm or experimental work.

Overall, I enjoyed creating this presentation and doing this research, and I believe that my team and I did well. One thing we could've improved was the visual aspect of our slides. In the slides, we mostly used words to explain our thoughts/research and not as many images. Sometimes, that can be overwhelming and lead to confusion or low engagement for those to whom we present. In the future, we should include more images in place of words where possible to create a more visually appealing and easy-to-follow slideshow.