Stem Cells, a Titanic Debate of Bioethics

1165 Words3 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Arguments for stem cell technology and research

Scientists around the world are determined to find answers to the most challenging questions in life. Stem cell research is the product of striving to find answers to severe medical conditions. There’s strong evidence to support this research as a viable option for regenerative medicine in treating the nervous system and neurological disorders. Stem cells have proved to be beneficial for finding the cures needed to treat cancers and diseases such as diabetes, AIDS, Parkinson’s disease, and heart disease (stemcyte). Currently, laws dealing with stem cell research have been passed from the federal government to the states, with each state deciding not only the restrictions implemented on research, but if stem cell research is legal within their borders. With emotions on this topic reaching climatic levels, it should be the responsibility of the federal government to pass legislation that not only protects stem cell research, but guarantees a future. The innovation of stem cell research has exposed new opportunities to exploring and reaching a better understanding of the human body. Embryonic stem cells play a vital part in the advancement of this research. Pluripotent stem cells such as the ones obtained from human embryos have the ability to become any other cell type like blood, bone, and skin (stemcells.nih). The ability to research and understand the process of how certain cell types develop is crucial to finding cures for diseases. Gathering a collective of pluripotent stem cells can be used to establish stem cell lines for other researchers around the world. The ability to produce new stem cells from those collected is far more efficient than going through the fertilization process. Being able to freeze and store the stem cel... ... middle of paper ... ...ner and K. Lee Lerner. Detroit: Gale, 2012. In Context Series. Science in Context. Web. 2 Apr. 2014 CBS News. Debrief: The Embryonic Stem Cell Debate. CBS, 9 Mar. 2009. Web 9 Apr. 2014 Davies, Bryan Thomas. "Stem Cell Laws." Biotechnology: In Context. Ed. Brenda Wilmoth Lerner and K. Lee Lerner. Detroit: Gale, 2012. In Context Series. Science in Context. Web. 2 Apr. 2014 Prentice, David A. "Adult Stem Cells Are More Beneficial thatn Embryonic Stem Cells." Embryonic and Adult Stem Cells. Ed. Susan C. Hunnucutt. Detroit: Greenhaven Press, 2013. At Issue. Rpt. from "Adult Stem Cell Treatments Move Ahead, Embryonic Stem Cells Fall Farther Behind." 2012 Opposing Viewpoints in Context. Web. 31 Mar. 2014 United States Department of Health and Human Services. NIH Stem Cell Information. HHS, Apr. 4 2013. Web 9 Apr. 2014

Show More
Related

  • Stem Cell Research: A Christian Perspective

    1361 Words  | 3 Pages

    The cells unique nature has scientists intrigued to do research with the focus of finding a way that these cells can be used to replace patients’ injured or diseased tissues. Advancement is made to all the three types of stem cells namely embryonic stem cells, adult stem cells in addition to induced pluripotent cells. Embryonic cells are the building blocks of an embryo that is developing, and can develop into almost all body cell types. Somatic cells are found in the body tissues. They renew and regenerate in healthy bodies. The third type which is induced pluripotent is genetically modified embryo cells from skin cells.2 Research on these cells are geared towards saving humanity; a noble course.

    Read More

  • 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.

    Read More

  • The Debate Concerning Embryonic Stem Cell Research

    1400 Words  | 3 Pages

    Stem cells are pluripotent cells of the body which are “undifferentiated.” This means that stem cells can ultimately give rise to any type of body tissue. Thus stem cells have the potential to cure a vast number of diseases and physical ailments including Parkinson’s, diabetes, spinal cord injury, and heart disease. Consequently, stem cell research and the development of associated medical applications are of great interest to the scientific and medical community. The area of stem cell research involving human embryonic stem cells is of particular interest in that embryonic stem cells are derived from week-old blastocysts developed from in vitro fertilized eggs. As opposed to adult stem cells, which must undergo a complicated process of de-differen...

    Read More

  • The Government Should Fund Embryonic Stem Cell Research

    2402 Words  | 5 Pages

    Stem cell research began in 1956 when Dr. E Donnall Thomas performed the first bone marrow transplant (“Adult stem cells are not more promising,” 2007). Since that time, research has evolved into obtaining cells from a variety of tissues. According to stem cell research professors, Ariff Bongso and Eng Hin Lee (2005), “Stem cells are unspecialized cells in the human body that are capable of becoming cells, each with new specialized functions” (p. 2). Stem cells are in various adult tissues, such as bone marrow, the liver, the epidermis layer of skin, the central nervous system, and eyes. They are also in other sources, such as fetuses, umbilical cords, placentas, embryos, and induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs), which are cells from adult tissues that have been reprogrammed to pluripotency. Most stem cells offer multipotent cells, which are sparse...

    Read More

  • The Ethical Considerations of Stem Cell research

    1604 Words  | 4 Pages

    Reaves, J. (2001, July 11). The great debate over stem cell research. Time, Retrieved from http://www.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,167245,00.html

    Read More

  • Stem Cells Essay

    983 Words  | 2 Pages

    Embryonic stem cells are derived from a four or five day old human embryo that is in the blastocyst phase of development (see figure 5). The embryo’s that are used for stem cell research, are extra’s that have been created in IVF clinics (in vitro fertilization), that are no longer needed. Embryonic stem cells are totipotent (cells with the potential to develop into any cells in the body). Scientists have discovered an alternative to embryonic stem cells, these cells ...

    Read More

  • Stem Cell Research Essay

    1380 Words  | 3 Pages

    There are many different types of stem cells that are being looked at for research. These include embryonic stem cells, adult stem cells, and induced pluripotent cells. Embryonic stem cells are cells that have the potential to produce many different cells in the body. They are cells that are tak...

    Read More

  • 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

    Read More

  • The Pros and Cons of Stem Cell Research

    932 Words  | 2 Pages

    Those who favour stem cell research are optimistic about the continued developments in stem cell research will open doors to many breakthrough discoveries in biomedical science. The scientific and ethical questions arise as rapidly as the reaching of milestones in stem cell research. There are two main types of stem cells, namely embryonic stem cells and adult stem cells. Adult stem cells are undifferentiated cells in our body. But they have restricted-range of cells that they can further differentiate. On the contrary, embryonic stem cells have the ability to differentiate into nearly two hundred cell types in the human body, called pluripotency. The process of harvesting embryonic stem cells involves destruction of embryos (Mooney, 2009).

    Read More

  • 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.

    Read More

  • A Rhetorical Analysis of the Stem Cell Research Debate

    1511 Words  | 4 Pages

    Hirsen, James L. “Who’s the Victor on the Stem Cell Debate?” 7 Aug. 2001. 24 Sept. 2007 < http://www.firstliberties.com/stem_cell_debate.html>.

    Read More

  • 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.

    Read More

  • Genetic Engineering

    1882 Words  | 4 Pages

    Anderson, Ryan. "Stem Cells: A Political History." First Things. First Things, November, 2008. Web. 10 Feb 2012.

    Read More

  • Moral and Ethical Issues Relating to Stem Cells Research

    853 Words  | 2 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • Stem Cell Argumentative Essay

    742 Words  | 2 Pages

    Initially, ebriyonic stem cells are isolated from a four- or five-day-old human embryo that is in the blastocyst phase of development. They are currently obtained with patients’ permission from donors. The embryos are usually extras that have been created in IVF (in vitro fertilization) c...

    Read More

More about Stem Cells, a Titanic Debate of Bioethics

Open Document