On May 1st, 2014, cardiologist Dr. James Chong of the Westmead Hospital made a remarkable discovery. He took human stem cells and transplanted them to a group of monkeys with damaged hearts and found that three months later the hearts tissue had “regenerated up to 40%” (Milman 1). Therefore, Dr. Chong came to the conclusion that it could be able to work the other way around. He claims that soon stem cells from monkeys would be able to regenerate damaged human hearts. Without the funding that the government has provided, Dr. Chung and many other scientists would not have been able to make the breakthroughs in stem cell research as well as they did. By continuing the fund of stem cell research, people around would be cured of not only heart damage but other diseases such as cancer, polio, asthma, HIV/AIDS, etc. Alexander A. Maximow is the scientist credited the most for the naming of stem cells (Who Discovered 1). Dr. Maximow was not only a scientist but, a physician and a biologist as well (Who Discovered 1). On February 1, 1961, Dr. James Till and Dr. Ernest McCulloch of the OCI institute, on accident, found proof of stem cells during radiation research (Stem Cell Research Timeline 1). Scientists theorizing the idea of stem cells had occurred well before hand but there wasn’t proper technology to research these cells thoroughly. Although this was just the beginning, the research of stem cells progressed quite rapidly. Despite the speedy discoveries, many sidetracks such as congress having banned fetal tissue research on July 12, 1974 had slowed the research just a small quantity (Stem Cell Research Timeline 1). Only 14 years later, the “Human Fetal Tissue Transplantation Research Panel reopens the question and votes 18-3 to appro... ... middle of paper ... ...ogist regrows monkey hearts with human stem cells”. Guardian News and Media, 30 Apr. 2014. Web. 7 May 2014. The Guardian. "NYSTEM." What Are the Potential Benefits of Stem Cell Research?”. N.p., n.d. Web. 13 May 2014. "Research! America." Timeline of major events in stem cell research policy. N.p., n.d. Web. 13 May 2014. Timeline of Major Events in Stem Cell Research. "Stem Cells as Therapies." California's Stem Cell Agency. N.p., n.d. Web. 02 May 2013. Stem Cell Basics: Introduction. In Stem Cell Information [World Wide Web site]. Bethesda, MD: National Institutes of Health, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 2002. May 5, 2014. Web. "Stem Cell Research Timeline." Stem Cell History. N.p., n.d. Web. 10 May 2014. Stem Cell Research Timeline. "Who Discovered: Stem Cells?"Who Discovered Stem Cells?. N.p., n.d. Web. 12 May 2014. Who Discovered: Stem Cells?.
At first fetal tissue stem cell research was "conducted without and scrutiny from the public sector" but after Roe vs Wade things got a little more heated. In 1928 Italian researchers performed the first ever, documented, "procedure" with fetal tissue where doctor took the pancreas of a fetus and "put it in" a patient with diabetes to see if the patients condition would improve how...
Over the past decade scientist and the U.S government have been debating about funds for stem cell research (SCR), the amount spent depends on who is in office. The Democratic Party fully supports SCR, but the Republican Party somewhat opposes the concept of SCR, arfuing it violates the Christian principle of life. As a result, this topic is considered controversial, but also beneficial if allowed. Despite the controversy, SCR should be well funded for medicinal use, because blank stem cells (SC) can be used to regenerate bones and muscle tissue, they can be used to control or even reverse neurodegenerative disease, and because they can be used for therapeutic cloning.
8. "Stem Cell Basics." National Institutes of Health. U.S. Department of Health & Human Services, 2009. Web. .
One of the most heated political battles in the United States in recent years has been over the morality of embryonic stem cell research. The embryonic stem cell debate has polarized the country into those who argue that such research holds promises of ending a great deal of human suffering and others who condemn such research as involving the abortion of a potential human life. If any answer to the ethical debate surrounding this particular aspect of stem cell research exists, it is a hazy one at best. The question facing many scientists and policymakers involved in embryonic stem cell research is, which is more valuable – the life of a human suffering from a potentially fatal illness or injury, or the life of human at one week of development? While many argue that embryonic stem cell research holds the potential of developing cures for a number of illnesses that affect many individuals, such research is performed at the cost of destroying a life and should therefore not be pursued.
Stem cell research is a heavily debated topic that can stir trouble in even the tightest of Thanksgiving tables. The use cells found in the cells of embryos to replicate dead or dying cells is a truly baffling thought. To many, stem cell research has the potential to be Holy Grail of modern medicine. To many others, it is ultimately an unethical concept regardless of its capabilities. Due to how divided people are on the topic of stem cell research, its legality and acceptance are different everywhere. According to Utilitarianism, stem cell research should be permitted due to the amount of people it can save, however according to the Divine Command of Christianity, the means of collecting said stem cells are immoral and forbidden.
Benefits of stem cell research can be overwhelming. Today, millions of people around the world suffer from incurable diseases. Stem cell research could help the scientific community find a breakthrough in developing a cure. By observing stem cells develop into mature human tissue, scientists can better understand how embryos develop. “Normal” human development can be recorded. This knowledge can be used to help prevent birth defects, for instance.
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
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...
"What are stem cells and what are they used for?." 24 April 2001. HowStuffWorks.com. 22 July 2008.
Stem Cell Basics. In Stem Cell Information [World Wide Web site] Bethesda, MD: National Institutes of Health, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 2009 [cited Friday, November 08, 2013] Available at stemcells.nih.gov
This report aims to investigate the different views held on the pros and cons of development in stem cell research. This report will provide background to the debate, its social significance, parties that are involved and analysis of the arguments related to the topic researched.
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>.
"Stem Cell Research Timeline." Stem Cell History. N.p., February 1, 2011. Web. 16 Feb 2012.
"Adenosine - What Is Adenosine?" Adenosine - What Is Adenosine? N.p., n.d. Web. 09 Mar. 2014.
The stem cell research controversy is one of the major headlines in bioscience and has been discussed and debated numerous times throughout the last decade or so.