A Hot-Button Issue
A) Introduction
B) (1) Basic facts 1.1) What are stem cells? 1.2) Types of stem cells 1.2.1. Adult stem cells 1.2.2. Embryonic stem cells 1.2.3. Comparison of the two stem cell types 1.3) Alternative sources of (pluripotent) stem cells 1.3.1. Umbilical cord blood stem cells 1.3.2. The use of spare embryos remaining after in vitro fertilization procedures 1.3.3. The creation of human embryos by means of IVF 1.3.4. Other prospective sources of pluripotent stem cells
(2) The ethical debate The moral significance of the early human embryo 2.1) The early human embryo in secular thought a) Time of fertilization view b) Fourteen-day or later view c) Potentiality view d) Group of human cells view e) Person view 2.1) The early human embryo in religious thought a) The Christian point of view b) The Jewish point of view c) The Islamic point of view (3) The US-policy on stem cell research 3.1) The Clinton stem cell research policy 3.1.1. The National Bioethics Advisory Commission (NBAC)
3.1.2. The National Institute of Health
3.2) The Bush stem cell research policy
3.2.1. Ethical justification of the President’s choice
3.2.2. Responses to the Bush policy
C) Conclusion – Public opinion on stem cell research in the USA
Appendix A: Graphical material
Appendix B: Speech by President George W. Bush regarding Human Stem Cell Research, August9, 2001. (audio file)
A) Introduction
With stem cell research one of the most promising and fascinating scientific fields is emerging. No other area of biology today provides us a deeper insight into an organism's development and thus the emergence of life itself. By providing us steadily advancing knowledge about how a single cell, the early human embryo, is able to grow, divide and give rise to the trillions