Embryonic Stem Cells Research, A List of Topics and Sub-Topics

“Through the isolation and manipulation of cells, scientists are finding ways to identify young, regenerating ones that can be used to replace damaged of dead cells in diseased organs. This therapy is similar to the process of organ transplant, only the treatment consists of the transplantation of cells rather than organs. The cells that have shown by far the most promise of supplying diseased organs with healthy cells are called stem cells.” (Chapter Preface)

I. Embryonic stem cells research has challenged the moral ethics within human beings simply because the point at which one is considered a “human,” is still under debate and practically incapable to make a decision upon.
a) “The vast potential of human embryonic stem cells does not come without a cost: a human embryo.” (Introduction)
CM: In order for embryonic stem cells to work as they are meant to, an embryo is required and has to be killed each and every time, and the process cannot be reused or reversed.
b) “For each successful cloning event there are usually hundreds of failed attempts.” (Chapter Preface)
CM: Not only are there hundreds of failed attempts, but there are thousands of scientists world-wide are experiencing hundreds of failed attempts.
c) “In particular, sacrificing human embryos would fundamentally depart from the long-honored Hippocratic ethic which teaches, ‘First do not harm.’” (William Cheshire)
CM: This is considered Hippocratic because the first step taken in order to obtain the embryos is to kill them. This is not only harming the embryos, but it has taken it to the complete next step in which it is unacceptable.
d) “Public conscience has time and again reaffirmed the Hippocratic ethic in such statements as the Nuremburg Code and the Declarat...

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...ou have not thought about it enough.” (Stem cells and the President)
CM: These are the words of “James Thomson, the fore-most stem cell researcher in the United States,” and for a head person to proclaim his own profession as he did is almost mortifying. He basically admitted that the process is indeed twisted and downright awful to think about.
e) “I worry about a culture that devalues life. I think my job is to encourage respect for life. On the other hand, I believe technologies and science will help solve many medical problems, and I have great hope for cures.”
CM: These are the words President George W. Bush spoke to two bioethicists at the White House. His words are approaching desperate, in the fact that he indeed knows the side effects, but hopes and believes that the procedures are worth the while, and that the cells will live up to their said potential.