Biomedical Engineering: Stem Cells

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The fact that there have been many advancements in biomedical technology over the years have given us the ability to cure and prevent diseases that have once devastated the human population. These breakthroughs have allowed people to live longer and healthier lives, yet others believe that it runs the risk of “playing God” and that such matters should be left into the hands of a higher power. Today, this ethical debate still continues to raise questions on whether these scientific breakthroughs are morally acceptable. While I support the use of scientific breakthroughs, I believe that it should only be used for human benefit to cure those who are suffering from cancer. This approach seems more reasonable than using this technology to choose one’s eye color or keep someone on life support just because it is something that can be done, whether or not that is acceptable or not.

Scientists have been successful in the areas of cloning before, but a breakthrough in 2013 is helping the area of stem cell usage. There is much controversy over the use of stem cells, but this new technology may help lessen that. Using a technique called “somatic cell nuclear transfer,” researchers cloned a human embryo. Within an embryo are embryonic stem cells, which are unique because of their never-ending list of uses. Stem cells are a crucial part of many new medical research projects because they can be manipulated into producing any type of bodily cell, including more stem cells.

Embryonic stem cell research, a scientific innovation that has the potential to save lives, should be continued and supported by the public. Embryonic stem cell research provides an efficient way of using spare embryos that would not otherwise be used in fertility treatments. Perhaps the largest objection to this form of stem cell research is that an embryo must be destroyed in order to extract a stem cell line However, embryonic stem cell lines that are used are obtained “from an embryo generated for reproductive purposes that is no longer needed for that purpose”, and would have been destroyed and discarded anyway (Kirchstein). Clearly, if these embryos are not used for their originally intended purpose, they should be utilized in other ways instead of being disposed of. Using spare embryonic cells in order to continue valuable scientific research is a superior alternative to discarding this rich source of research material.

While it will be many years before scientists may actually be able to find a way to combat these diseases, there is a great promise in stem cells. Because stem cells are essentially a blank slate, scientists are theoretically capable of growing any human tissue cell. There is enormous medical potential in this. Stem cell research is the next step in advancing the medical field. It is comparable to the discovery of penicillin or the inoculation for smallpox.

People look at situation a little different. Some say it is wrong to dest... ... middle of paper ... ...thically good to use embryos to create differentiated cells since ultimately, a greater amount of people can benefit from it. A small sacrifice, regardless if the action was wrong, still created a greater good. In summation, embryonic stem cell research is hugely useful and beneficial to society. Its research will revolutionize how diseased patients are treated and cured.

White, Deborah. “Pros and cons of embryonic stem cell research.” About.com. N.p., 2014. Web. 25 Feb. 2014. .

Even though therapeutic cloning comes at the cost of an embryo, the benefits that it reaps are hard to argue against. If there comes a day where cloning can be done without the cost of an embryo or the threat of creating a brand new human being from one person alone, life expectancy will jump through the roof and then society will have a brand new set of ethically issues to deal with. Until that day comes, cloning should be handled with extreme caution but approached enthusiastically because we never know when a scientific anomaly could occur.