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Should the government fund the research using embryonic stem cells
Thesis about embryonic stem cells
Should the government fund the research using embryonic stem cells
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Kendra Lamalie
English 12
Mrs. Reynolds
21 March 2014
Embryonic stem cells: Immoral or Necessary?
Stem cells are becoming a powerful new tool for replacing damaged or destroyed tissue in different parts of the body. There are two basic types, embryonic stem cells and adult stem cells. Stem cells, found in the body, can engender exact facsimiles of themselves. They have the capacity to construct a number of specially designed cells such as heart muscle cells, liver tissue cells, brain tissue cells, etc. Embryonic stem cells are extracted from aborted fetuses or embryos left over from in vitro fertilization. Adult stem cells are found in both children and adults. Adult stem cells can be utilized for a circumscribed number of other kinds of cells while embryonic stem cells are able to individualize into over two hundred types of cells. Embryonic stem cell research is so controversial because society is judging whether or not taking stem cells from days old embryos is immoral, or if doctors should look past the cons and do what is necessary to eventually preserve many lives.
While stem cell research has received an abundance of support from people who believe it has the potential to treat and remedy disease, many others oppose embryonic stem cell research because it ultimately causes the destruction of an embryo, what they consider to be a human life. Which brings on the question, when does life begin. The answer is opinionated. Many people disagree on when life begins; some people believe that an embryo is a human and some believe that they are not human until the first heartbeat. For Robert P. George, member of the Presidents Council on Bioethics, in the book Stem Cell Research “The hum...
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...world is telling them to forget the tragically ill and instead bring new life into this world and also deny them of the medical treatments that could possibly save their lives.
In conclusion, it seems as though the only lead in the search to save human lives is through an embryo, until another method is proven to be equivalent or better than embryonic stem cells, there is no reason why scientists should be kept from advancing science to enhance and save many lives.”the likelihood, and it is my personal belief, that you end up with something identical to that pristine human embryonic stem cell is about zero. We do not know. It’s a very interesting question, and scientists are certainly looking at that” (Landis 77). Continued embryonic stem cell research is required to answer those questions. Why let them become medical waste when they can be used for a greater cause?
It needs to be understood that it is as natural as cancer or AIDS, but can be worse and a living hell for those who are the victims of this illness, and not treated in time. When we can give all the care and attention to other medical problems, and can go campaigning for them; then its time to look at this aspect of illness with same enthusiasm. We cannot afford to neglect this illness. We need more voluntary involvement, and have a better infrastructure developed to build a better future for every person who is suffering, and who is prone to suffer with the current mode of life of high stress and competitions.
According to a doctor in the documentary, people are coming to the ICU’s to die. (Lyman et al, 2011) Due to the fact that technology to sustain life is available the decision to end life has become much more complicated yet more people die in hospitals then anywhere else. (Lyman et al, 2011) The story of Marthe the 86 year old dementia patient stood out to me upon viewing the documentary because I recently just had my great grandmother go through the same situation. (Lyman et al, 2011) Marthe entered the ICU and was intubated for two weeks while her family members decided whether to perform a tracheotomy or take her off life support. (Lyman et al, 2011) The family was having a tough time deciding due to the fact that the doctors could sustain Marthe’s life if they requested it. Marthe ended up being taken off the ventilator and to everyone’s surprise was able to breathe but, a day later she could no longer do so and now she has been on life support for a year. (Lyman et al, 2011) Another patient that I took particular interest in was John Moloney a 53 year old multiple myeloma patient who has tried every form of treatment with no success. (Lyman et al, 2011) Despite trying everything he still wanted treatment so he could live and go home with his family but ended up in
Stem cell research has always been a widely debated topic in 'social and political forums' ever since the case of Roe vs. Wade in 1973. In that case the Supreme Court gave women the right to have an abortion whether or not they have a medical reason to. Whereas beforehand 'they needed a medical reason'. This "sparked controversy" over stem cell research with aborted fetuses. For many of those in favor of using fetal tissue for research it has too much "potential" in the future of medicine in terms of providing cures for diseases and "". Those against fetal tissue research believe it unethical to take one human life in order to preserve another.
Stem cells are the building blocks of the human body. Embryos consist of unspecialized stem cells that transform into the various specialized cells in the body such as cardiac, muscle or bone cells. Fetuses also have stem cells. However, the stem cells are divided into types like muscle, bone or nerves and don't perform a specialized function. Surprisingly, adult bodies also contain stem cells. In adults, stem cells are undifferentiated but limited to specific tissue type. When needed, the stem cells transform into the cells needed for repair and maintenance. The most common source of adult stem cells is bone marrow. Researchers also acquire stem cells from umbilical cords. Without stem cells, embryos could not develop into fetuses and adult
Ever-presently in the world there are occasions where research goes wrong, cell ownership reflects only selfishness and distrust for scientist, when they should be revered to the point where they would think of money. On the contrary, remarkable operations like the first successful adult human heart transplant by Christiaan Barnard would be complicated by tissue ownership in the instance where the patients are not able to speak, give consent. The issue of tissue ownership is a deep and vexing argument, but I find it that research in the name of humankind is more important than the "property" of one person.
" An Overview of Stem Cell Research | The Center for Bioethics & Human Dignity."
One of the most heated political battles in the United States in recent years has been over the morality of embryonic stem cell research. The embryonic stem cell debate has polarized the country into those who argue that such research holds promises of ending a great deal of human suffering and others who condemn such research as involving the abortion of a potential human life. If any answer to the ethical debate surrounding this particular aspect of stem cell research exists, it is a hazy one at best. The question facing many scientists and policymakers involved in embryonic stem cell research is, which is more valuable – the life of a human suffering from a potentially fatal illness or injury, or the life of human at one week of development? While many argue that embryonic stem cell research holds the potential of developing cures for a number of illnesses that affect many individuals, such research is performed at the cost of destroying a life and should therefore not be pursued.
..., generation after generation, from organism to organism ever since. Each new organism, and in a sense, each leaving cell, is merely a temporary participant in this continuum." (Biggers, 1981). This citation ca be interpreted in two different ways. the first one being that embryos are not alive since there is no beginning of life. and the other one would be that the embryos are alive from the beginning since life on Earth is contiguous. This shows that the ethicality of the researches in embryonic stem cell, is just an interpretation.
While many support embryonic stem cell research, some people oppose it say that it is an unethical practice. According to these people, embryonic stem cells require murdering a baby, human life is defined by rational beings, those capable of rational thought or a consciousness. In order to be rational one must have a consciousness, the ability to have thoughts and feel pain, to begin with. “For a fertilized egg, there is no consciousness and also no history of consciousness” (Stem). If abortions are allowed within the United States, why shouldn’t embryonic stem cell research be? Another claim against embryonic stem cell research is that it devalues human lives. “Some argue that researching embryonic stem cells will lead us into cloning technology” (Embryonic). While embryonic cloning is a possibility, we already possess the capabilities to clone so cloning is an invalid argument. The final argument against embryonic stem cell research is that there are alternatives, like adult stem cells. While adult stem cells may be utilized, they won’t be as effective. Embryonic stem cells are not only efficient but also renewable. They can be grown in a culture where as adult stem cells are extremely rare, if there are any. They can only be found in mature tissue. Isolating these extremely rare cells is challenging and has a high failure rate if not harvested correctly. “One major difference between adult and embryonic stem cells is their different abilities in the number and type of differentiated cell types they can become” (Stem). Using adult stem cells we might never understand our development from conception ...
Stem cells are an ongoing research project in which new discoveries are being made about them, and researchers are learning how to use them in new ways. The three current kinds of stem cells all prove to have their own challenges when it comes to using them. The important thing is finding out which stem cell is right for the patient and how much of an ethical concern there is when it comes to using the stem cell. As we learn the best way to use them and they become more popular in the medical field, stem cells will become a new weapon in the fight against certain diseases.
Despite the unquestionable gains that embryonic stem cell research has brought and may continue to bring to medicine, I believe the ethics and morality of stem cell research is questionable. Embryonic stem cells are taken from a human embryo, which is “the developing organism from the time of fertilization” (conception) “until the end of the eighth week of gestation, when it becomes known as a fetus” (National Institutes of Health). These embryos are fertilized in an in vitro fertilization clinic, and their stem cells are extracted from their inner cell mass of the blastocyst after three to four days. They must be extracted because after five days of the embryonic cell’s development, these undifferentiated stem cells no longer exist. In the process of extracting these cells from the infer mass of the blastocyst, the human embryo is destroyed. Since human life begins at the moment of conception (when sperm fertilizes an egg), the destruction of the human embryo is the destruction of a human being. Killing a human being and disregarding the irrevocable value of human life is morally wrong; therefore, embryonic stem cell research is not morally acceptable. I will be arguing this point throughout the paper, taking into consideration counterarguments and building upon others that are also against embryonic stem cell research.
Monroe, Kristen, et al., eds. Fundamentals of the Stem Cell Debate: The Scientific, Religious, Ethical and Political Issues. Los Angeles/Berkley: University of California Press, 2008. Print
Imagine watching a family member slip off into a land where they don’t even recognize you or other relatives. Their personality and health rapidly deteriorate to the point of becoming unrecognizable. Within a year, they slip into a coma and eventually die. There is absolutely nothing doctors
Anderson, Ryan. "Stem Cells: A Political History." First Things. First Things, November, 2008. Web. 10 Feb 2012.
Throughout the past few decades, scientific discoveries in the medical world have advanced tremendously. One rapidly growing field is the use of human stem cells, which possess the capacity to divide and give rise to identical stem cells, and even to form new specific types of somatic tissue cells. The categorical term “stem cell” can be divided even further into two specific types: embryonic stem cells and adult stem cells. Embryonic stem cells are cells which can only be derived from preimplantation embryos, and have proven the ability to form cells of all tissue types; they are pluripotent. Alternatively, there are adult stem cells, which are undifferentiated and begin growing in the earliest stages of life and remain in the body forever.