Stem Cell Research

Stem Cell Research

"An ethicist ... told me that [a] cluster of cells is the same way you and I, and all the rest of us, started our lives. One goes with a heavy heart if we use these [embryonic stem cells], he said, because we are dealing with the seeds of the next generation." This was a quote from one of our former presidents, George W. Bush and how he felt about embryonic stem cell research. The basic definition of embryonic stem cell research is; biological research on stem cells derived from embryos and their use in the medical field (Embryonic). In order to get this research, though, we must extract the stem cells from the embryos, and as a result, the embryo is killed. There are many reasons why this is morally wrong. First off, life begins at conception, so when we remove these stem cells from the embryo, and kill it; we are murdering a helpless baby. For what people may ask? Well, research has shown that there is high potential for these embryonic stem cells, and their ability to help cure many diseases, but we must not kill a living person for research. I could see why people might support embryonic stem cell research if there was no other ways of getting this information, but fortunately, there are other ways! Scientists have discovered adult stem cells have the ability to regenerate into other cells and help cure many diseases, much like embryonic stem cell research. With adult stem cells, though, there is no controversial situation behind it because nobody has to die in order for scientists to extract the cells. Embryonic stem cell research is highly unethical, and should be stopped because we cannot kill a human being for research, and there are other possibilities that may even end up working even better than embryonic stem cell research.

The idea of embryonic stem cell research started back in the early 1900s when scientists discovered stem cells and what they were. But it wasn't until 1998 when a scientist from the University of Wisconsin, James Thomas, successfully removed cells from spare embryos from a fertility clinic and grew them in a laboratory (Holm). He then launched his findings to the public and established the first human embryonic stem cell line. Since his discovery, there has been plenty of evidence to suggest that these embryonic stem cells can regenerate into any type of cell in the body. At this time, though, there seemed to be no other option that could produce the same results. So, even though some people knew this was wrong, they felt we must continue on with it to find cures. For others though, they stuck to what they believed, and spoke out against embryonic stem cell research. They knew this was wrong, because we must not kill any living soul for the sake of research! Scientists still continued on, though, even when they knew this research was hurting many people mentally because of what our society would do for research.

As scientists continued research on embryonic stem cells, they discovered adult stem cells. At first, it was thought that adult stem cells will never reach the amount of success embryonic stem cells could reach, but recent research has found many ways to prove this thought wrong. In the past few years, scientists have discovered more and more ways to make adult stem cells more beneficial to stem cell research. "An adult stem cell is thought to be an undifferentiated cell, found among differentiated cells in a tissue or organ that can renew itself and can differentiate to yield some or all of the major specialized cell types of the tissue or organ" (William). In other words, an adult stem cell is a stem cell found in already existing tissues and organs of an adult. In the past, many have argued that adult stem cells are very difficult to obtain, very hard to coax into developing into other tissues, and, consequently, their use would involve much more time and money to obtain the desired results. But now recent research has shown that adult stem cells can be isolated and developed. If scientists keep on making strides like they have been, the use of embryonic stem cells will be no longer needed, thus putting an end to the major ethical problem. "A number of experiments have reported that certain adult stem cell types can differentiate into cell types seen in organs or tissues other than those that the original adult stem cell came from" (William). An example of this would be brain stem cells that can differentiate into blood cells or blood-forming cells that differentiate into cardiac muscle cells, and so forth (William). This reported phenomenon is called Trans Differentiation. Scientists have also found adult stem cells in many more tissues than they ever thought possible. They have found adult cells in tissues and organs like the brain, bone marrow, peripheral blood, blood vessels, skeletal muscle, skin, teeth, heart, gut, liver, ovarian epithelium, and testicles. Scientists are now close to finding ways to use these adult stem cells for transplants, and this will help stop diseases in these areas. Scientists feel they could make even bigger strides if they had more funding for research. Unfortunately, not enough people know about these recent discoveries and all of the money is still going to embryonic stem cell research. If we would spend all our time and money on figuring out a way to boost stem cell research without having a major part of the population disagreeing with it, then we should pursue that.

Eventually, the word will get out the adult stem cells are becoming very beneficial, but for the funding to continue to adult stem cells people must understand why embryonic stem cell research is so wrong. Embryonic stem cell research is highly unethical; we must not kill babies for research! Killing an embryo is just like killing a human-being for any other type of research, because this embryo is the start of human life. "A large number of Americans views the use of human embryos as unethical because of deeply held Christian beliefs that place a great emphasis upon the value of a human life and hold the belief that even unfertilized embryos should remain outside the realm of scientific manipulation and experimentation" (Lutfala.). People who support killing embryos for stem cell research