Stem Cell Research

1454 Words3 Pages

Stem cell research has provided scientists with insight into new possibilities for effective therapies against difficult health conditions, but it has also created several ethical debates on an international level. From a scientific viewpoint, stem cell research has the potential to cure chronic conditions, such as Parkinson's disease, diabetes, chronic hearth conditions, spinal cord disabilities, and other conditions that require complete tissue regeneration for successful treatment. In other words, the cause for researching stem cells and their therapeutic properties could be justified despite the moral complaints against it. However, lack of proper regulations and several ethical complaints against stem cell research restrict its development. Two main complaints against stem cell research define it as a violation of human rights through the destruction of embryos and a potential cause of inhuman practices in the future. However, the therapeutic potential of understanding stem cells and working with stem cells is undeniable, and several scientists aim to defend the purposes of stem cell researches and propose regulations and moral values that would meet the expectations of both sides of the stem cell research issue. While there are already some common ground where both sides can agree and define stem cell research as moral and useful, further improvements in regulations, defining clear ethical viewpoints for stem cell research, and alternative scientific methods for achieving the same goals could expand the common grounds and achieve a better agreement between two sides with opposite viewpoints on stem cell research.

Although stem cell research promises immense progress in health care, there are two main moral objections to st...

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...er (SCNT) rather than finding appropriate methods of obtaining stem cells for therapeutic procedures. Although biological knowledge about cell development often seems as the most trivial benefit of stem cell research (Holm 496), SCNT research could clarify the genetic factors that cause diseases, so it would be possible to reprogram corrupt genes rather than look for morally acceptable methods and regulations of using embryos for the purpose of obtaining stem cells (McLaren 131). If reprogramming the somatic nucleus could produce the same results without harming embryos, there would be no reason to create ethical debates about the moral aspects of collecting research material. An alternative research method seems the most appropriate solution because it would avoid several major ethical debates, and it could possibly require much less legislations or regulations.

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Within the past few years, scientist have made several breakthroughs with human stem cells. These breakthroughs have catapulted the issue of stem cell research into the middle of a national debate. Most people have no problem with the research itself, however the source of the stem cells (adult or human embryos) used in research is the primary cause of the debate. Some people feel that destroying an embryo is comparable to murder, even if the research it promotes may help people with serious illnesses. Other believe that an embryo is not a person and therefore research on an embryo is the same as research on any other group of cells.
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Stem Cell Research

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