Importance of Stem Cell Research

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Stem Cell Research Stem cell research is a highly debated, controversial, sensitive topic. Too many people have skewed perceptions of stem cell research simply due to their lack of knowledge on the topic. The ignorant conception of stem cell research is human cloning, test tube babies, and mindless murder of helpless infants. This is not the case. The United States should be utilizing and funding stem cell research; it has miraculous benefit and is morally justifiable. With federal funding stem cell research could achieve its full potential. It is vital to medical advancement. To form an adequate view point of this topic one must first understand the basics. Human development begins when a sperm fertilizes an egg which forms a single cell that has the potential to create an entire living organism. This fertilized egg is totipotent which means it has total potential to develop into a fetus. A few days after fertilization these totipotent cells begin to specialize, forming a hollow sphere of cells called blastocyst. Inside the blastocyst is a cluster of cells called the inner cell mass. These inner cell mass cells are pluripotent meaning they can create many types of cells but not all necessary to produce a fetus. “Because their potential is not total, they are not totipotent, and they are not embryos” (Espejo). The benefits of stem cell experimentation are nearly unfathomable. Experimentation with human embryos was first developed to help infertile couples have children outside of sexual reproduction called vitro fertilization. “On July 25, 1978, Louise Joy Brown, the world's first successful "test-tube" baby was born” (Rosenberg). If the gift of creating a biological child for an infertile couple, while spreading hope to thousa... ... middle of paper ... ...esearch now, and start utilizing stem cell potential to the fullest. Bibliography Espejo, Roman. Human Embryo Experimentation. San Diego, CA: Greenhaven, 2002. Print. Kleeman, Elise. "December 2013." Discover Magazine. N.p., 1 Dec. 2005. Web. Kuhse, Helga, and Peter Singer. Embryo Experimentation. Cambridge, NY: Cambridge University Press, 1990. Print. LaFleur, William R., Gernot Böhme, and Susumu Shimazono. Dark Medicine: Rationalizing Unethical Medical Research. Bloomington: Indiana UP, 2007. Print. Lenzer, Jeanne. "Have We Entered the Stem Cell Era?" Discover Magazine. Discover Magazine, 14 Dec. 2009. Web. National Institutes of Health. Stem Cells: A Primer. 2000. Web. . Rosenberg, Jennifer. "First Test-Tube Baby- Louise Brown." 20th Century History. n. page. Web. 26 Nov. 2013. "Stem Cells in Use." Stem Cells In Use. N.p., n.d. Web. 2013.

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