Stem Cell Research

883 Words2 Pages

There has been much controversy regarding stem cell research and its uses in health care. The controversy has spanned since the early 1940’s when stem cell research was just a theory and carries on now in 2012 as it has become a reality. Stem cells are cells which are usually in the earliest stages of life which allows them to be able to have the potential for development into many different types of specialized cells. They also are self-renewing and therefore can produce even more stem cells that can continue to develop in to the specialized or unspecialized cells that are needed throughout the body. Stem cells are usually broken into two, very broad groups, embryonic stem cells and adult stem cells. According to Goldie, Embryonic stem cells are considered of a pluripotent capacity, which means they are able to form tissues of all three germ layers: endoderm, mesoderm, and ectoderm. However, these cells are not capable of forming a living being in its entirety (74-75). Goldie continues on by stating that only cells of a totipotent nature, which is the ability of a single cell to divide and produce all the differentiated cells, are capable of producing an entire being. Stem cell may be used in research by offering information regarding the complexity of cells and their development in relations to human development. Certain serious medical conditions that plague society today, such as congenital birth defects and cancer, may be attributed to abnormal cell division and differentiation that are noted. Through stem cell research we can have more information about how the disease process is triggered and offer new information in regards to the appropriate therapy, as human stem cells are often used to test new medicines. As noted... ... middle of paper ... ...treatment and cure of all degenerative diseases. Their success will not be possible unless the scientist of this field start to share ideas and resource. The benefits of having such treatment options could impact the world in many different ways that wouldn’t adhere to the masses, but eventually become part of our everyday life. Works Cited Goldie, MP. "Stem Cell Research: Transforming Medicine." International Journal Of Dental Hygiene 7.1 (2009): 74-75. CINAHL Plus with Full Text. Web. 25 Mar. 2012. Hook, et al. "The Science And Ethics Of Induced Pluripotency: What Will Become Of Embryonic Stem Cells?." Mayo Clinic Proceedings 86.7 (2011): 634-640. CINAHL Plus with Full Text. Web. 25 Mar. 2012. Russo E (2005) Follow the Money—The Politics of Embryonic Stem Cell Research. PLoS Biol 3(7): e234. doi:10.1371/journal.pbio.0030234

Human Embryo Research
1010 Words | 3 Pages
Late one night a woman is driving home on the freeway, she’s hit head on by a drunk driver and killed. The man is charged with two accounts of murder; the woman, and her four-week-old embryo inside her. By law, everyone human being is guaranteed rights of life; born or unborn they are equal. The same law should be enforced concerning human embryonic stem cell research. Dr. James A. Thomson discovered stem cells in 1998 and they’ve intrigued scientist ever since. The stem cells themselves are derived from a three to four day old cluster of cells called a blastocyst and they are so coveted because they are pluripotent, meaning they can differentiate into any type of cell in the human body. Although embryonic stem cells show amazing potential to cure various disease such as cancer, congestive heart failure, Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease, muscular dystrophies, and more. The methods by which they are obtained is controversial. Research on embryonic stem cells is unethical, unnecessary, and purely homicide.
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Stem Cell Research
1328 Words | 3 Pages
Scientists would be able to grow spinal cells from pluripotent stem cells. These cells could possibly repair spinal cord damage. Those afflicted by paralysis, such as Christopher Reeve, could possibly move again. Stem cells could also be used to grow nerve cells, possibly combating Parkinson’s disease or Alzheimer’s. 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.
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The Government Should Fund Embryonic Stem Cell Research
2402 Words | 5 Pages
Francis (Ed.), At Issue. Should the Government Fund Embryonic Stem Cell Research?. Detroit: Greenhaven Press. (2009). (Reprinted from, n.d.) (Reprinted from Science Magazine, 22 September 2006) Retrieved from http://padme.cochise.edu:2067/ic/ovic/ViewpointsDetailsPage/ViewpointsDetailsWindow?displayGroupName=Viewpoints&prodId=OVIC&action=2&catId=&documentId=GALE%7CEJ3010587207&userGroupName=sier28590&jsid=67271fc8c381f89007dff41cfd3813e6
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Politics and Stem Cell Research
854 Words | 2 Pages
The President’s Council on Bioethics published “Monitoring Stem Cell Research” in 2004. This report was written in response to President Bush’s comments regarding research of human stem cells on August 9, 2001. President Bush announced that he was going to make federal funding available for research that involved existing lines of stem cells that came from embryos. He is the first president to provide any type of financial support for the research of human stem cells. A Council was created with people who are educated in the field of stem cells to help monitor the research and to recommend guidelines and consider the ethical consequences that this research could create. This report is an “update” given by the President’s Council in January of 2004 to make the public aware of the significant developments in the science and medical aspects of stem cell research. It also describes the ethical, legal and political implications that stem cell research may create. However, since the research is still in its beginning stages, this “update” does not describe a complete or definitive study of stem cells nor does it provide specific guidelines or regulations. This is a report that is suppose to help the President, Congress and general public make better-informed decisions as to the direction that we should go with stem cells.
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Stem Cell Therapy
1269 Words | 3 Pages
Imagine that there is a cure for nearly every ailment that affects the human race. Imagine that you could help the terminally ill, put those you love out of pain, and cut the healing time of an enormous number of serious illnesses in half. Imagine a world in which pain and suffering would be nearly nonexistent, and the people you love can live safe from the fear of crippling injury. Now what if I told you that this utopia was a fast approaching reality? Everything from serious life threatening burns to lymphoma, AIDS, Alzheimer’s, Muscular Dystrophy, Parkinson’s Disease, Spinal Cord Injury, and Strokes could, in the very near future, be eliminated through the simple culturing and implementation of stem cell therapy . These diseases are no small component of the myriad of conditions that plagues the human race, and yet, the end for these horrible maladies could very well be in sight. Man has always sought to end suffering, largely without success, until now. the promise that stem cell therapy holds could completely change our world for the better. Already, stem cell therapy is being used to treat leukemia, immune disorders, hodgkins and non-hodgkins lymphoma, anemia and a profusion of other ailments. As you all know, this is no small accomplishment. One day i believe that we may look at alzheimer's and diabetes and other major illnesses much like we look at polio today, as a treatable illness. Right now, our research with stem cells is providing us with new light into how we look at and model disease, our ability to understand why we get sick and even to develop new drugs. In 2008, a researcher from the New York Stem Cell Foundation Laborato...
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Stem Cell Research Essay
1380 Words | 3 Pages
This paper focuses on the benefits of stem cell research in the medical and nursing field. New technology is always being created to help us understand the way the human body works, as well as ways to help us improve diseased states in the body. Our bodies have the ability to proliferate or regrow cells when damage is done to the cells. Take for example the skin, when an abrasion or puncture to the skin causes loss of our skin cells, the body has its own way of causing those cells to regrow. The liver, bone marrow, heart, brain, and muscle all have cells that are capable of differentiating into cells of that same type. These are called stem cells, and are a new medical tool that is helping regrow vital organs in our body to help us survive. Stem cells can come from adult cells, or the blastocyst of the embryo. The cells that come from these are undifferentiated, and can be specialized into certain cell types, making them available for many damaged tissues in the body. While using stem cells in the body is a main use, they are also being used to help doctors understand how disease processes start. By culturing these cells in the lab and watching them develop into muscles, nerve cells, or other tissues, researchers are able to see how diseases affect these cells and possibly discover ways to correct these diseases. While researchers have come very far in using stem cells, there are still many controversies to overcome when using these cells.
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Stone Man Syndrome Research Paper
721 Words | 2 Pages
Medical science has undergone a great revolution, it is getting better and more advanced than it was some decades back. In spite of such breakthrough advancement there are several diseases that don’t have a cure yet. A very hefty amount is being spent every day
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Stem Cells: The Future of Medicine
3294 Words | 7 Pages
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
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The Pros and Cons of Stem Cell Research
932 Words | 2 Pages
Due to public awareness of science, people started realise that the stem cells have the potential in developing cell-based therapies for many uncured diseases. Objectors claimed that it is morally wrong for the government to advocate stem cell research because the research demands embryos’ destruction (National Bioethics Advisory Committee [NBAC], 1999, as cited in Nisbet, 2004).’’It’s immoral that hundreds of thousands of embryos are discarded yearly instead of used to research cures for human suffering.” (Gilbert, 2008).In 2001, President George W. Bush made his stand to oppose the stem cell research by l...
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Federal Funds Should Be Used for Embryonic Stem Cell Research
1400 Words | 3 Pages
“Federal Funds Should Not Be Used for Research That Destroys Embryos.” Stem Cells. Jacqueline Langwith. Detroit: Greenhaven Press, 2012. Opposing Viewpoints.
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A Rhetorical Analysis of the Stem Cell Research Debate
1511 Words | 4 Pages
Stem cell research has been a heated and highly controversial debate for over a decade, which explains why there have been so many articles on the issue. Like all debates, the issue is based on two different arguments: the scientific evolution and the political war against that evolution. The debate proves itself to be so controversial that is both supported and opposed by many different people, organizations, and religions. There are many “emotional images [that] have been wielded” in an attempt to persuade one side to convert to the other (Hirsen). The stem cell research debate, accompanied by different rhetoric used to argue dissimilar points, comes to life in two articles and a speech: “Should Human Cloning Be Allowed? Yes, Don’t Impede Medical Progress” by Virginia Postrel; “Should Human Cloning Be Allowed? No, It’s a Moral Monstrosity” by Eric Cohen and William Kristol; and “Remarks by Ron Reagan, Jr., to the 2004 Democratic National Convention” by Ron Reagan, Jr. Ethos, pathos, and logos are the main categories differentiating the two arguments.
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Embryonic Stem Cell Research Persuasive Essay
2065 Words | 5 Pages
Could you imagine being able to create new organs, tissues, muscles, and even food? With embryonic stem cell technology, believe it or not, these things are possible. Stem cells are the body's raw materials. Specifically, they are cells from which all other cells with specialized functions are generated. Under the right conditions in the body or in a laboratory, stem cells can divide to form more cells called daughter cells. These daughter cells either become new stem cells or turn into specialized cells with a more specific function, such as blood cells, brain cells, muscle cells or bone cells. The possibilities are almost endless. The debate and main issue with this technology is that the actual stem cells come from embryos. Embryos are an unborn or unhatched offspring in the process of development. Although there is controversy surrounding these cells, embryonic stem cells should continue to be researched and used, because they have so much potential.
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Genetic Engineering
1882 Words | 4 Pages
Anderson, Ryan. "Stem Cells: A Political History." First Things. First Things, November, 2008. Web. 10 Feb 2012.
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Stem Cell Therapy
1020 Words | 3 Pages
...there are some risk factors in using stem cell for therapeutic approaches, hematopoietic stem cell therapy by bone marrow transplantation has already been proofed to be safe if donors’ background and screening, cell contamination, HLA matching and opportunistic or nosocomial infections during immunocompromised period were carefully monitored and controlled. Still, other types of stem cell therapies, despite of their good therapeutic efficacy, are remain in experimental stage and need more data to support and demonstrate the safety in clinical trials. More understanding of stem cell biology is also required in order to keep stem cell under controlled and avoid some complications that they might cause. So, to pave the way for successful stem cell therapy, research in this extent is needed to pursue to maximized therapeutic efficiency with highest safety in patients.
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The Future of Medical Science Is Now
741 Words | 2 Pages
The procedures that will be the future of modern medicine currently fall into the realms of taboo and fictional. These procedures encompass every aspect of medical science, from exploration of the human body, curing diseases, to improving a person’s quality of life. Many of these procedures are not very well known, while a few have been in the spotlight. These procedures include cloning, nano-robotics, retro-viruses, and genetic manipulation via gene-specific medications. For any serious breakthroughs in modern medical science, we must embrace these new forms of treatment instead of shying away from them.      Second, I’ll attempt to explain how these methods and procedures could benefit mankind.
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Stem Cell Research

Human Embryo Research