Synopsis: Problems Stem From Controversial Research
Question: Would stem cell research greater benefit from research deriving from embryonic stem cells or adult stem cells?
Thesis: Stem cell research would greater benefit from focusing on research deriving from adult stem cells because the use of
adult stem cells isn’t controversial, has already proven successful in providing cures and treatments, and has the same
potential benefits as embryonic stem cells.
Counter Arguments:
1) Embryonic stem cells can be harvested from blastocysts left over from in vitro fertility therapy, which otherwise would be
destroyed or frozen indefinitely by the thousands.
2) The ‘cause justifies the means’; meaning that the destruction of a few embryos is worth it if embryonic stem cell research could
save millions of lives
3) Stem cell research has not yet been successful because it hasn’t had adequate funding or sufficient time to develop cures and
treatments.
4) Cell reprogramming technology is still being developed and its full benefits and consequences are not yet certain
Argument 1: By concentrating on adult stem cells, research wouldn’t be refrained by the controversy surrounding embryonic
stem cells.
Many religious and social groups disapprove of the controversial methods used in embryonic stem cell research
• Many Christian groups in the United States including Fundamentalists, Catholics, and Eastern Orthodox believe that a blastocyst
is already a human being. These religious sects, as well as many social conservatives, oppose embryonic stem cell research
because the extraction of the stem cells destroys the human embryo.i
• Using stem cells from aborted fetuses or frozen embryos is "nothing more than biotech cannibalism, in which we eat our young in
order to better our own medical condition."ii
• UCLA Islamic law professor, Khaled Abou El Fadl, noted that Muslim scholars, notably in Saudi Arabia and Pakistan, believe
that using a Muslim body for medical research is forbidden according to Islamic law.iii
• Embryonic stem cell research methods are a “slippery slope to reproductive cloning and fundamentally devalue the worth of a
human being.”iv
• The resulting opposition has pressured political figures around the world to “seek regulatory frameworks and highlighted the fact
that embryonic stem cell research represents a social and ethical challenge.”v
Many of the same religious groups that oppose embryonic research strongly support adult stem cell research.
• The Pope announced that adult stem cell research "deserves endorsement and encouragement when it happily merges scientific
knowledge, the most advanced technology, and ethics that respect the human being at every stage of life."
The American population is more supportive of less controversial research.
• “VCU Life Sciences Survey found that strong support for human embryonic stem cell research had declined nationwide from
27% in 2005 to 21% in 2007.”vi
Argument 2: The promise of embryonic stem cells hasn’t become a reality, while advancements in adult stem cell research have
proven practical in providing numerous cures and treatments for disease.
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“While there are more than 70 different therapies that utilize adult stem cells, no cures have yet materialized using embryonic
stem cells.”vii
One explanation for the total lack of embryonic treatments is that the science behind embryonic stem cell therapies may be
“fundamentally flawed.”viii
"Our results raise the provocative possibility that even genetically matched cells derived by therapeutic cloning may still face
barriers to effective transplantation for some disorders."ix
The chances of successful medical treatments deriving from embryonic stem cells are "very remote". “The problems are so
complex that we're not likely to be able to tackle them with the stem cell gambit in the foreseeable future."x
“I have argued that adult stem cells are better because they are closer to the stage of differentiation than embryonic or fetal
cells - therefore they do not have as long a distance to travel differentiation-wise as the younger cells. Therefore there is far
less of a chance for genetic errors to be accumulated in the implanted cells and less side effects for the patient to deal with.”xi
Adult stem cells have been successfully used to treat Gunther's disease, Hunter syndrome, Hurler syndrome, acute
lymphocytic leukemia.xii ,lymphoma, multiple myelomaxiii, paralysis sustained from spinal cord injuries, Parkinson's disease
and other illnesses.xiv Researchers at Columbia-Presbyterian found that after injecting adult bone-marrow stem cells into mice
that had had heart attacks induced resulted in an improvement of 33 percent in the heart’s functioning and the damaged tissue
had re-grown by 68 percent.xv
“Of the 15 US biotech companies solely devoted to developing cures using stem cells, only two focus on embryos. Embryo
stem cell research is at the drawing-board stage - not for lack of funds but for lack of promising research to finance. Venture
capitalists have no agenda beyond making money; if they see embryo projects that are likely to bear fruit over the next five to
•
seven years - the usual VC time horizon - they will fund them. That the market is speaking so loudly against embryo stem
cell research probably explains why embryo researchers are so eager to reverse the ban on government funding.”xvi
“Embryonic stem cell funding restrictions in the US are not significantly impeding the overall advancement of stem cell
research and that even without the ethical concerns regarding embryonic stem cells, public health funds should focus on
extending adult stem cell research successes.”xvii
Argument 3: New technology provides manipulated adult cells with the same potential benefits as embryonic stem cells for the
future.
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i
“Embryonic stem cells are known as the body's master cells and can turn into any type of tissue or blood cell. Scientists want
to harness that power for regenerative medicine, but groups opposed to the research say human embryos should not be
destroyed to advance scientific study. Both scientists and opponents see reprogrammed cells as a way to get around that
controversy.”xviii
A team of scientists at Mount Sinai Hospital led by Andras Nagy were the first to reprogram adult human cells into
embryonic-like stem cells without using potentially dangerous viruses that could cause cancer.xix
"We hope that these stem cells will form the basis for treatment for many diseases and conditions that are currently
considered incurable. This new method of generating stem cells does not require embryos as starting points and could be used
to generate cells from many adult tissues such as a patient's own skin cells."xx
“Reprogrammed stem cells are so promising, not only for their potential to generate new organs, but also because they bypass
the rejection dangers that the use of tissues from other people always pose.”xxi
Carol Glatz. Pope Endorses Adult Stem-cell Research. (18 Sep. 2006. 5 Mar. 2009
<http://www.catholicnews.com/data/stories/cns/0605317.htm>.)
ii
Teresa Watanabe. Religions Divided on Stem Cell Issue. (15 Oct. 2008. 03 May 2009
<http://www.wwrn.org/article.php?idd=4069&sec=24&con=4>.)
iii
Ibid
iv
Mark Henderson. Benefits of Stem Cell Research Overslod, Says Expert. (05 Sep. 2005. 04 May 2009
<http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/article562502.ece>.)
v
Teresa Watanabe. Religions Divided on Stem Cell Issue. (15 Oct. 2008. 03 May 2009
<http://www.wwrn.org/article.php?idd=4069&sec=24&con=4>.)
vi
Ibid
vii
Carol Glatz. Pope Endorses Adult Stem-cell Research. (18 Sep. 2006. 5 Mar. 2009
<http://www.catholicnews.com/data/stories/cns/0605317.htm>.)
viii
Nationmaster Encyclopedia . Stem Cells. (18 Nov. 2008. 22 Apr. 2009 <http://www.nationmaster.com/encyclopedia/Stem-cells>.)
ix
Ibid
x
Bradely Mattes. Embryonic Versus Adult Stem Cells? It's Really No Contest. (04 Aug. 2007. 22 Apr. 2009
<http://www.lifeissues.org/cloningstemcell/bradsarticle.html>.)
xi
Ibid
xii
Nationmaster Encyclopedia . Stem Cells. 18 Nov. 2008. 22 Apr. 2009 <http://www.nationmaster.com/encyclopedia/Stem-cells>.
xiii
Helen Fields. What Comes Next? (15 Jan. 2006. 22 Apr. 2009
<http://health.usnews.com/usnews/health/articles/060123/23cell_3.htm>.)
xiv
Nationmaster Encyclopedia . Stem Cells. (18 Nov. 2008. 22 Apr. 2009 <http://www.nationmaster.com/encyclopedia/Stem-cells>.)
xv
Ibid
xvi
Bradley Mattes. Embryonic Versus Adult Stem Cells? It's Really No Contest. (04 Aug. 2007. 22 Apr. 2009
< http://www.lifeissues.org/cloningstemcell/bradsarticle.html>.)
xvii
Nationmaster Encyclopedia . Stem Cells. (18 Nov. 2008. 22 Apr. 2009 <http://www.nationmaster.com/encyclopedia/Stem-cells>.)
xviii
Megan Oglivie, and Joseph Hall. Stem Cell Coup for Toronto. (02 Mar. 2009. 12 Mar. 2009
<http://www.thestar.com/article/595058>.)
xix
Ibid
xx
Samuel Lunenfield Research Institute . Stem Cell Breakthrough: New Method for Creating Stem Cells. (02 Mar. 2009. 22 Apr.2009
<http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/03/090301181423.htm>.)
xxi
Ibid