Stem Cells are the Future of Healthcare

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A mother cannot remember her children’s names anymore because of Alzheimer’s diseases. A daughter will never be able to walk again because of a car accident that has made her paralyzed from the waist down. A husband will never be able to see his wife again because he has become blind. But maybe these people will be able to remember, walk or see again. Someday all of the diseases in the world may be curable through stem cell research. Stem cells are very unique because they have the ability to morph into any of the over 200 cells that make up the human body. For the past 50 years scientists have been trying to understand the true potential of stem cells. Nichols (2001) explained that, it was not until 1998 when scientist James Thomson of the university of Wisconsin isolated living stem cells from embryos using in-vitro fertilization (p.44). That was a major breakthrough in stem cell research. Scientists are now able to use embryonic stem cells to treat or cure diseases, but they are far from perfecting it to use on humans. The process of generating stem cells is done by the fertilizing of an egg through in vitro fertilization. If the embryo is healthy then it is divided and is multiplied several times. Then the embryo is destroyed and the stem cells are used. The ethical issues surrounding stem cell research have a major impact on continuing medical research. As humans we must rethink the ethical issues and focus more on the potential benefits of stem cell research. Embryonic stem cells are much more unique then the less controversial, more common multipotent stem cells. Multipotent stem cells like umbilical cord blood and bone marrow stem cells are restricted generating only a number of tissues. Embryonic stem cells are categori... ... middle of paper ... ... and it may take many years to fully understand them before they can be used on humans. Unlocking the mysterious of stem cells could allow us to understand the human body in an entire different way. Works Cited Bethesda, MD: National Institutes of Health, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. (2010, September 13). Stem Cell Basics: What are embryonic stem cells?. In Stem Cell Information [World Wide Web site]. Retrieved from http://www.stemcells.nih.gov/ Fitzpatrick, Megan. (2010, November 2). Canada’s Mantle As Stem-Cell Leader Fading, Experts Warn. Postmedia News. Retrieved from http://www.canada.com/ Hochedlinger, Konrad. (2010, May). Your Inner Healers. Scientific America. Retrieved from http://www.scientificamerica.com/ Nichols, Mark. (2001, August 27). Stem Cells A Moral Dilemma. Maclean’s. Retrieved from http://www2.macleans.ca/

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