Stem Cell Research

There is a great dilemma today in our society involving stem cell research.

Although research involving stem cells would be incredibly affective in aiding

all types of ailments, it is extremely controversial in both our religious and

legal systems. The stem cells that would be most helpful come from embryos and

in a religious view, this is taking life and wrong. After the 2004 election,

the amount of stem cells that the government allowed scientists to do research

on, was restricted as well.

People that are sick today could be aided by stem cells but not enough research

is being done to help the people of right now. This is really disturbing that

things could be done for sick people and they’re not being done because of what

I would call “old fashioned” ethics. If more research was underway right now

then little Jacob, mentioned in the article, “Full Stem Ahead” by Christen

Brownlee, could be walking very soon. In the past, this technology was not at

our fingertips and now that it is we should be taking full advantage of it to

help little boys like Jacob.

In the future, if stem cell research expands, great things will happen. Type

one diabetes, Parkinson’s disease, Osteoporosis, and heart disease could all

potentially be cured. People living in pain in the future will have a way to

fix it. That is, if government regulations lessen in time. In my opinion, they

will because stem cell research is in fact, the future.

The religious view of stem cell research is that it is taking life. That these

embryos could potentially be people, life. In my opinion, this is wrong. It

would be giving life to people that are already here. Religious opinion also

believes that any form of contraceptive is wrong. In this this opinion couldn’t

masterbatory secretions of males be considered wasting life, and couldn’t a

woman who menstruates and wastes an egg be taking potential life also? When do

these religious morals stop? The positive factors of stem cell research far

outweigh religious beliefs. The reason that the government has decided to put a

damper on the stem cell research is because the President and many of the people

that voted for him are in fact religious and conservative. If Kerry had come

into office, stem cell research would have expanded because of the more liberal

views of the democratic party. Unfortunately, this is not the case. There are

now only 22 lines of stem cells remaining for scientific use.

There is only good to come out of stem cell research but I do have some worries

for the far future. It would be wonderful if people in wheelchairs could walk

again like little Jacob, but as with other resources that out world has, people

tend to go to far or take advantage of them. I would worry that an almost

perfect human race could be formed through the use of stem cell research in the

far future. At first, this sounds like a great idea, but if you really think

about it, it is not. Our world is already overly populated. What would happen

if every sick person could be cured? Our population would expand even more and

outweigh the amounts of resources that we now possess. Also, there would be no

diversity, everyone could potentially be the same. A perfect race. This is far

fetched, but how far fetched? The are already using hormones to make short

people taller to make life easier for them. What is next, will everyone

eventually have the same mental capacities. Perhaps Charles Darwin was trying

to