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Stem Cell Research Advancements

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Stem Cell Research Advancements
Stem Cell Research Advancements
Tara Cantwell
English 215
Professor
Amanda McClure
02/10/2013

Stem Cell research could save the lives of many people suffering from diseases. Stem cells are organisms that are crucial in development. These non-specialized cells have a potential to create other cells such as; muscle cells, tissue, brain, and blood cells. Stem cells can even repair and replace damaged cells. With all this wonderful technology in our reach Ethics holds back the development of research. Ethics have been controversial surrounding this research. In the past years research took embryonic stem cells from an aborted embryo to get materials to study. In this case the issue arises that stem cell research may be used to clone. There are many arguments about the use of stem cells. The biggest fear of cloning arose in 1997 with the cloning of Dolly a sheep which was created through cloning stem cells. This sheep put a scare on society that scientist may want to clone a human child, this was a misperception by society. Genetic determinism aroused the fears that genes determine all aspects of an individual; this reflects a person’s genes are a simple relationship of psychological and physical traits. This brought forth the fear of “Playing God” and the interference of natural elements of life. For those who believe that the embryo has the moral status of a person from the moment of conception, research or any other activity that would destroy it is wrong. For those who believe the human embryo deserves some measure of respect, but disagree that the respect due should equal that given to a fully formed human, it could be considered immoral not to use embryos that would otherwise be destroyed to develop potential cures for disease affecting millions of people. An additional concern related to public policy is whether federal funds should be used for research that some Americans find unethical ( Kathi E. Hanna, M.S., Ph.D., Science and Health Policy


References: www.nih.gov www.allaboutpopularissues.org www.genome.gov http:explorable.com/stem cells Kathi E. Hanna, M.S., Ph.D., Science and Health Policy Consultant,2006 Presidential documents vol. 74, no.46 on Wednesday, March 11 2009
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