Stem cell research is a very complex argument. There are people that feel that stem cell research should not have even been introduced into our society. However, there are others that feel that stem cell research could change many lives. Those who feel it could change many lives are right in many people’s eyes.
With the advancement of stem cell research, we would be able to help many people with such diseases as heart disease and Alzheimer’s. Stem cells could also help others with debilitating diseases and those who have suffered some very unfortunate accident. One particularly known person who supports stem cell research was Christopher Reeves, who was paralyzed in an accident. Other people believe that the research is unethical since the best way to get stem cells is from embryos, in which the embryo is killed in order to take the stem cells. The biggest obstacle for stem cell research would have to be, killing the human embryo in order to take the stem cells.
Many of those that oppose the research believe that is murder, since many religions, such as the Catholic Church, believe that the embryo has a soul, therefore, it is considered murder and a sin. There are other ways of getting the cells, which do not require the killing of embryos. One way to get the stem cells would be from taking them from an adult source. However, those are sometimes not as abundant as those taken from embryos. There is a chance that the cells could be harvested from the Umbilical cords donated from newborns.
There are other instances of the cells being taken from those of aborted babies. If the mothers do not want to keep the baby, why not have them donated to the stem cell research, in order to help someone else. Also, there are the embryos that are left in the fertility clinics. Those embryos are going to be destroyed anyway, why not donate those that are grown to the stem cell research.
With the stem cell research, there could be many lives saved by the research alone. However, there is no estimate to the lives that stem cell research could save and there is no number of those that have been saved by stem cell research. In fact, there is no human research to date that states that stem cells are going to work. Stem cells have been shown to grow items such as heart tissue and spinal tissue along with many other organs. There are some that have benefited from stem cell research, not those of embryonic stem cells but those of adult stem cells.
The Coalition of Americans for Research Ethics, states that adult stem cells have shown to be more effective than the embryonic stem cells. Adult bone marrow cells have shown immune tolerance and have not been rejected. The adult stem cells can also repair the retina of the eye, grow new blood vessels, and stimulate growth in children with bone disease. Dr. Ronald McKay, stem cell researcher at the National Institute of Disorders and Stroke, believes that the reasons for such hype in embryonic cells is that people need a fairy tale and that the adult stem cells are just as effective.
If stem cells can help such people with heart disease, Parkinson’s, and Alzheimer’s why would we want to let these people die in such a way. Many of these diseases, such as Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s, which attack the nervous system cells would be able to get back to their own lives and not have to suffer from such a debilitating disease. Others feel that it is almost like playing god and that changing something that would occur naturally is unethical. Still, the main conflict that lies with stem cell research is that of killing the embryos in order to extract the stem cells.
Another side of research is where the embryos will come from. There are many types of stem cells that can be used. But, the main focus is on those of embryonic stem cells. Stem cells can be harvested from those left behind after in-vitro fertilization. Many of those eggs are going to be destroyed, so why not.
