Moral and Ethical Issues Relating to Stem Cells Research

Stem cells offer exciting promise for future therapies, but significant technical hurdles remain that will only be overcome through years of intensive research. Stem Cells have the incredible potential to develop into many different cell types in the body during early life and growth. Scientists primarily work with two kinds of stem cells from animals and humans. The embryonic stem cells and the non-embryonic stem cells. Stem cells are the cells from which all other cells originate. In a human embryo, a large portion of the embryo’s cells are stem cells. These stem cells can be used for cell-based therapies. Cell-Based therapies are treatments in which stem cells are induced to differentiate into the specific cell type required to repair damaged or destroyed cells or tissues. Stem cells are versatile and offer the possibility to treat a number of diseases including Alzheimer’s, stroke, cardiovascular disease, diabetes, etc. The problem is that for the process of embryonic stem cell research and embryo will be destroyed if used. This raises a moral issue and questions of whether stem cell research is unethical or not.

Stem cell research should be allowed on adults but not on humans. Only allowed on humans who are willing to be a part of the stem cell research but no one should be used against their own will. Embryos should not be used for embryonic stem cell research. An embryo being used for their stem cells and then discarded devalues that human life. This follows along the same unethical issue as abortion. When stem cells are removed from human embryos, a unique individual dies. However, if abortion is legal in the state that this research is conducted than research may be conducted on only aborted fetuses. That would be an...

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...egal everywhere and this would go against everything that God intended.

Research on animals is a vital process to stem cell research and other research in medicine. Animals can be used by scientist for research as long as it does not harm or kill an animal. Over the years animals have been experimented on for research and have contributed greatly to medicine. However, if animals are continuously killed for trial and error than that suggests animal cruelty.

Stem cell research is not necessarily bad and this research can lead to a positive breakthrough in the medical field. Researchers and consumers have a mutual interest in distinguishing the good research from the bad. However, that is very difficult to do when stem cell biology is a large and widespread field. Stem cell research could find much more support if scientist didn’t conduct unethical research.