Stem cells : the miracle cure from within.
With al the medical advances nowadays many diseases remain without a proper cure,
and the bearers must suffer throught their lives by taking a regiment of pills to try and
fedn off the sicknes for as long as they can until it eventually takes their body over.
But, what if there was a way to actually manage to control these illnesses, from aids to
cancer eve to organ regeneration, stem cell research can be the way for humanity to
extend its life expentency by a considerable amount of years. Unfortunately not
everyone is as enthusiastic at me when it comes to the morality of the issue at hand.
Stem cells are a form of human life: they are alive and contain human DNA. They have a
unique feature in that they can be coaxed into developing into some or all of the 220
cell types found in the human body. Of the three types of stem cells, embryonic stem
cells have the greatest potential in that they can theoretically become any of the 220
cell types. Adult stem cells are less useful in that they have already started to specialize
and can only become one of a few cell types. Induced pluripotent stem cells are
specially treated cells that can be processed to behave somewhat like embryonic stem
cells.
Adult stem cells can be harvested from adult tissue with minor, if any, harm to the adult.
Embryonic stemcells, however, are said to be generally easier to extract than the
adult stem cells, and embryonic stem cells are said to have more uses than their adult
counterparts. Because of their potential uses, and because of questions about when life
begins, embryonic stem cells are the primary subject of the stem cell research
The overall debate over the ethics of stem cell research involve two major ethical
concerns: (1) the potential for human cloning , and (2) whether these embryos, or preembryos as some refer to them, are human life. Perhaps the initial controversy
over stem cell research related to the possibility of human cloning. Especially
when stemcell research first gained popularity, researchers were concerned with the
potential for using stem cells to clone humans. Proponents make many arguments in
support of human cloning including the possibility of creating another “you” should
body parts or tissues be needed later in life as one may develop illnesses and diseases.
Opponents primarily argue that it is not within man’s purview to manufacture,
manipulate, or destroy human life.
The other major ethical issue related to stem cell research involves the ongoing debate
over when life begins. Some say that life begins at conception and that the use of
humans, even immature ones, for research purposes is unethical. Others claim that the
embryos are only tiny amounts of undifferentiated tissue and since they are already
scheduled for destruction, and have great potential benefit, they should be used to
potentially help others.
It is legal to conduct stem cell research in the United States (US), even for the purposes
of human cloning. Privately funded laboratories may engage in
adult stem cell researchor embryonic stem cell research whether the embryos were left
over embryos from other processes or were harvested specifically for research. Recent
debate centers on whether federal funds should be granted to stem cell research and if
so what kind stem cells should be supported by this funding. In 2001, President Bush
authorized the issuing of federal funds for stem cell research of over 60
existing stem cells lines. The funding was restricted to these cell lines because the issue
of life and death was already decided; that is, the stem cell lines at that point were
capable of independent and infinite regeneration.
Many of those that argue for federal funding of stem cell research, including
embryonic stem cell research beyond the more than 60 identified stem cell lines, argue
that the failure to fund stem cell research has greater ramifications than just limiting
that type of research. Federal funds are not given to labs that
conduct stem cell research even if the federal dollars are for non-stem cell research. The
concern is that federal funds will be used in some way, or to some degree,
for stem cell research. As a result, some major US labs have created, at great expense,
duplicate laboratories, one dedicated to stem cell research, and another dedicated to
non-stem cell research, so federal funds can continue to be received by the nonstem cell research lab.
But still the biggest hurdle for stem cell research to overcome is the socio-religious ban
put on it by the church and hardcore religios militants.
(state examples of church and state)
to solve this problem, Some researchers have been trying to find alternatice methods of
obtaining embryonic stem cells that do not involve the actual death of an embryo. They
hope to find a method of obtaining stem cells that is acceptable to the pro-life
movement. The stakes are very high. Embryonic stem cells have the potential to develop
into almost any of the 220 types of cells found in the human body (e.g. blood cells, heart
cells, brain cells, nerve cells, etc). Rick Weiss of the Washington Post writes that
researchers expect that stem cells from human pre-embryos will be able to:
"morph into virtually every kind of tissue, including nerves to replace those destroyed by
spinal injuries and cardiac muscle to fill in for cells lost in a heart attack. Scientists see
stem cells as the key to a new era of regenerative medicine." 10
Some researchers regard them as offering the greatest potential for the alleviation of
human suffering since the development of antibiotics. Over 100 million Americans and
two billion other humans worldwide suffer from diseases that may eventually be
treated more effectively with embryonic stem cells or even cured.
Adult stem cells can be obtained with few ethical concerns. However their potential
applications are much more restricted than for embryonic stem cells.
Eventually, new deseases will rise an some of them will be more vlatile and
unpredictable than we expect and stem cell researchj will be our greatest against the,
and thus people should consider the importance of such research and work towards
funding it and rendering it independent of state and church for the overall benefit of
humanity.