Embryonic stem cell research is wrong. When using embryos in research, the embryo is manipulated to be anything scientists need it to be. But, scientists dispute the fact that the parts of the embryo they use could also grow into a fetus. When harvesting the stem cells of an embryo, the destruction of the blastocysts, “the blastula of the mammalian embryo, consisting of an inner cell mass, a cavity, and an outer layer, the trophoblast” (Dictionary.com), must occur. This kills the embryo because taking away the stem cells strips the organism of the ability to develop. The use of live embryos in research is wrong because it takes an innocent life.
Consequently, using embryos for stem cell research puts the patient at risk for their body rejecting
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However, they do not bring to light when given fetal brain cells, some sufferers of Parkinson’s disease experience side effects like “head jerking, writhing, constant chewing, twisting, and arm-flailing” (OccupyTheory 5). This occurs because the patient’s body does not accept the foreign tissue of the embryos as their own. Even if the use of embryonic stem cells in Parkinson’s helps with the problems caused by the disease, it cannot cure it. When used to treat sclerosis or cancer, the cells injected into the human will require the use of drugs to prevent rejection from the tissue. Injecting embryonic cells can also cause rapid growth of unwanted tissue, or tumors. In addition to the threat of tumors, the long term side effects of stem cell therapy are still …show more content…
What does that mean for the life of the embryo whose cells were harvested? Scientists practicing embryonic stem cell research say that “components of the embryonic stem cell used in research use the term pluripotent, which is meant to imply that embryonic stem cells cannot make the outer layer of the embryo called the trophoblast. However, the stem cells that are emptied into the petri dish are able to reform the trophoblast and create the embryo” (OccupyTheory 4). In layman’s terms, this means that while the stem cells are in this state, they can become whatever they need for the embryo to continue development. According to Jenny Tesar, “Stem cells are unspecialized before they differentiate. Once they do, they can form more than 200 types of cells” (9) This means that stem cells can become anything. The theory stating that the parts of the cell being used for research do not affect how the embryo would have continued developing is proved
For the past few years stem cell research has been a widely debated topic; however, former President Clinton?s stance?allowing federal money to be spent on tightly controlled stem cell research?lead to intense debates over federal funding for stem cell research. There are four ways of obtaining stem cells, which are taken from embryos that are approximately one week old. They are using unwanted embryos from fertility clinics, embryos from aborted fetuses, cloned embryos, and embryos created for research purposes. Stem cells can also be taken out of adult bone marrow, but scientists do not think that adult stem cells hold as much medical potential. Conservatives are against federal funding for stem cell research because they feel that by doing such the government would be contributing to ?murder.? This idea is rooted in the religious beliefs, which include the belief that life begins at conception, held by conservatives. However, liberals support federal funding for the research of embryos because they question whether embryos are full human beings and believe the research could expedite potential medical breakthroughs.
Despite the significant portion of Americans that do not support embryonic stem cell research, it should be federally funded because of the potential health benefits, the definition of human, and the opportunity to clearly define regulations for ethical research. The wide range of prospective uses for stem cells could greatly improve the health and wellbeing of many people. In stem cell treatments, undifferentiated cells are programmed to form specific cells, which can then be transplanted to the afflicted area. Stem cells can possibly treat afflictions including “Alzheimer’s disease, spinal cord injury, stroke, burns, heart disease, diabetes, osteoarthritis, and rheumatoid arthritis” (“Stem Cell Basics”). Another important use is drug testing.
This belief is wrong. Many countries including the United States have laws regarding embryonic stem cells. The United States has limits on when you can take embryos and there off course has to be consent from the donor of the stem cells. All these regulations are being met and the research is being done safely and in a way that always keeps safety as a first priority. New procedures and uses of stem cells also have to be deemed safe or the risks have to at least be shared before treatment can take place. These regulations make sure stem cells are being used in a safe way and that you know the facts about the way researchers are using
Unquestionably, stem cell research is unethical on multiple accounts. Firstly, embryos are human beings and even though they’re a few days old they are not a “pre-embryo,” a term stating that after conception, the embryo was actually not an embryo. Thankfully, that term is now known as scientifically invalid. As soon as the
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.
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...
Stem cell therapy is a controversial topic that falls on the list of things not to discuss over thanksgiving dinner, very much like religion and politics. While the potential of stem cell research and therapy stand to make leaps of progression in cures for disease like Cancer and Alzheimer’s; Pros, Cons and morality still surround the issue.
...ting embryos specifically for stem cell research should not be allowed. Continued stem cell research will benefit all of mankind with its promise of medical advances. Opponents’ concerns about destroying human life will be quelled because stem cells will be taken from already doomed embryos. The federal government will be able to regulate the research and ensure that it is lawfully conducted.
Stem cells are undifferentiated cells that can differentiate themselves into specific cell type. There are two types of stem cells. The first one is the adult's stem cell. These stem cells can be found in various places in an adult human body, like the brain, the bone marrow or the liver. The other type of stem cells is the embryonic stem cells. These cells are found in embryos before its implantation in the mother's uterus. At this stage the embryo is divided in two types of cell. The first one is the outer cluster of cell that forms the embryo that will become part of the placenta once the embryo hatch. And the inner cluster is the source of embryonic stem cell since it consists of undifferentiated cell that will divide and differentiate to form all the organs and tissue needed in an adult organism. As stem cell are undifferentiated cell they can become whatever cell type is needed in an organism and could be the solution to diseases that are, at this date, incurable. (Medical News Today, 2013). Most of the ethic's problem of the stem cells researches come from the embryonic stem cell researches and how the cells are collected. Embryonic stem cells can be obtained in several ways. The first one is after a couple's fertility treatment, there might be some embryos left and the couple can decide to donate their embryos to research. The second option is to collect stem cells from a foetus after an abortion. And the last possibility is to use therapeutic cloning. Using an ovum from witch the nucleus was taken off and the nucleus of a somatic cell, the origin of this cell in the body doesn't matter, it can come from the skin for example, it is possible to create an embryo and get the stem cell from the created embryo. But in all of...
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 ...
While many support embryonic stem cell research, some people oppose it say that it is an unethical practice. According to these people, embryonic stem cells require murdering a baby, human life is defined by rational beings, those capable of rational thought or a consciousness. In order to be rational one must have a consciousness, the ability to have thoughts and feel pain, to begin with. “For a fertilized egg, there is no consciousness and also no history of consciousness” (Stem). If abortions are allowed within the United States, why shouldn’t embryonic stem cell research be? Another claim against embryonic stem cell research is that it devalues human lives. “Some argue that researching embryonic stem cells will lead us into cloning technology” (Embryonic). While embryonic cloning is a possibility, we already possess the capabilities to clone so cloning is an invalid argument. The final argument against embryonic stem cell research is that there are alternatives, like adult stem cells. While adult stem cells may be utilized, they won’t be as effective. Embryonic stem cells are not only efficient but also renewable. They can be grown in a culture where as adult stem cells are extremely rare, if there are any. They can only be found in mature tissue. Isolating these extremely rare cells is challenging and has a high failure rate if not harvested correctly. “One major difference between adult and embryonic stem cells is their different abilities in the number and type of differentiated cell types they can become” (Stem). Using adult stem cells we might never understand our development from conception ...
Every year countless people are diagnosed with cell based diseases, 7.6 million a year alone receive the petrifying news that they have cancer. But what if we could eliminate the idea that a cancerous diagnosis is the equivalent of a death sentence? The use of embryonic stem cells could, for the first time, make diseases like cancer or parkinson a non-issue. This is why the use of embryonic stem cells should not be viewed as unethical but rather a huge step towards unthinkable medical breakthroughs and the eradication of life threatening diseases.
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).
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...
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.