Stem Cell Research: The Pursuit Of Scientific Knowledge

The pursuit of scientific knowledge has often been believed to be an exploration in which information is gathered solely from experimentation, but people are slow to realize that experimentation is only one way, among a variety of ways, in which scientists gather information. In their pursuit of new scientific knowledge, scientists may conduct surveys, or build on pre-existing information using assumptions and theories, along with experimentation, in order to obtain knowledge in any particular scientific field. That which the scientists determine as knowledge, however, does not always mirror that which the public receives as new scientific knowledge. Along the path of distribution of this knowledge, the influences of economics, morality and political beliefs can taint pure scientific knowledge discovered by the scientist.

In almost all fields of new research, scientists seeking to gain new knowledge encounter inadequate funding. Whether the money is needed new lab equipment or field research or other such projects, sufficient funding is almost always unattainable. Because so little is known about this new field of
A big controversy surrounding Parkinson抯 research is stem cell research, which the Senate may debate next month. Some scientists believe that stem cells, elusive master cells with the potential to become any kind of human cell, may hold huge promise for treating diseases such as diabetes and Parkinson抯. However, stem cells may be derived from embryos left over from fertility treatment, which puts the research smack in the middle of the abortion debate. Fox urged people not to have a 搆nee-jerk?response to the stem cell debate and said the research had the potential to 搇iterally change the