“Every ten minutes a person is added the transplant list.” (Welch). But stem cells could potentially eliminate the need for a transplant list at all, The term ‘stem cell’ has been around since the late 1800’s. But the capabilities of them weren’t known until the 1950s when a scientist found a pluripotent cell, meaning they can differentiate into any cell found in a fully grown animal. With further research on stem cells, this technology could drastically change medical field Scientists would get to see how diseases occur, and test pharmaceuticals for effectiveness and safety, and use regenerative medicine, This could exceedingly cut the number of deaths due to transplantation complications, spinal cord injuries, and even Alzheimer’s disease. There is a lot of controversy with arguments of including moral implications regarding the usage of embryonic cells including religious frustrations and potential cloning.
That being said the United States government should not limit the research on stem cells One consideration is stem cells have the capability to potentially treat many “incurable” illnesses. With more research and less restrictions scientists could find a way to to treat illnesses such as Parkinson’s Disease, Alzheimer’s, Spinal cord injuries, and many more. Takehiko Kaneko, head of Clinical Development in Japan at SanBio, said in an article for Marketing Weekly News that they are conducting the first phase two clinical trial for chronic brain injury in the world using allogeneic stem cells “We will proceed with the clinical development of SB623 as soon as possible, so that we can contribute to patients suffering from ongoing disability” (qtd. in “Clinical Trial Involving“ ). This shows that the fight for the study of stem cells, embryonic or not, has more to it than furthering scientific capabilities.
If scientists have the capability of finding cures for spinal cord injuries or slowing down the progression of amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS), they should, The common goal is to limit human suffering, and the technology to do that is know, so it should be used There is a potential cure for the diseases that science can’t explain and has yet to cure all the way to the injuries faulted to the mistakes of human nature There are injuries that people themselves are responsible for, such as breaking an arm. Injures like those have a well known treatment options. But other injuries like a torn heart valve are more difficult, and complicated to treat Stem cells can provide a helping hand with that using stem cell based regenerative medicine. Assuredly, using a stem cell to grow a organ, or a piece of an organ, is a popular form of regenerative medicine A stem cell grown organ that is needed in transplantation would limit rejection due to the fact the stem cell has come from the patient and has the patient‘s DNA on it, making the organs or cells a perfect match for each individual.
Charlene Cooper, Vice President and Chief Operating Officer at AntiCancer Incl talks to writers for the an article in News of Science about beating heart muscle sheets grown from hair follicle based stem cells, “These results indicate that easily-accessible HAP stem cells can be used to form beating heart tissue and these heart patients can in the future can use their own hair follicle stem cells for regenerating their diseased hearts,“. (qtd in “News of Science”). These heart-beating sheets aren’t going to be rejected because the cell comes from the patient, This is not the first time something like this has occurred. In the Scientific American, writer, Cassandra Willyard states that in 2011 researcher, Madeline Lancaster mistakenly grew a brain from human embryonic stem cellsi(Willyard) Not only are scientists starting to grow pieces of organs, they are going out of their way to take best to take the least controversial way around it.
Scientists decided that the possibilities and capabilities of stem cells are too important to let the barriers of others stop them, so they have found ways to get stem cells, which have minimal ethical implications, from a patient. So making the organ or whatever is needed would be a perfect DNA match, without needing to be genetically manipulated. The fact that scientists can grow an organ in a lab, that they can then implant into a patient is groundbreaking and incredibly remarkable. Thousands of lives could be greatly improved and prolonged by Stem cell based regenerative medicine. There are a few different types of stem cells, and the place in which they originate from are all very different. Firstly there is, adult stem cells, or tissue specific stem cells. Then there are Embryonic stem cells, there is a lot of controversy regarding this specific stem cell and the ethics of the research/
Consequently, with harvesting embryonic stem cells,and the usage of stem cells in general come with moral and religious implications. Many of these implications come from the religious side of the argument. In an online article written by Ian Murnaghan, he explains some of the implications religious groups have with embryonic stem cells. “The destruction of an embryo that occurs when embryonic stem cells are extracted has angered and upset many religious groups, who see it as ‘murder’ or the destruction of human life.” (Murnaghan), The belief that embryonic stem cells are a destruction of life is the opinion of some, but the embryos used, are typically from fertility clinics where people have frozen embryos that wouldn’t be implanted. So why not use these when they would either be sitting in the sub zero coolers in clinics waiting for the power to go out or being destroyed anyway, without benefit to anyone.
With respect to people of religious background, there is the separation of church and state for reason, because everyone is entitled to their own opinion, moral and religious views. Not only is this an entitlement, it is a constitutional right to have your own beliefs and morals, as it is written in the first amendment. (Haynes et. all 47.) Freedom of religion means that every person is given the right to choose their own religion and have their own beliefs, but these that doesn’t mean they get to dictate others beliefs or morals, even it it is different from their own So someone saying, “It’s wrong to use embryonic stem cells because it goes against my morals.” is not a completely valid reason to stop scientists and researchers from finding cures to awful diseases, study new pharmaceutical drugs, and using stem cell based regenerative medicine.
The possibility of cloning is an issue that has been brought up. There are laws against cloning, also it is unethical and unliking that an scientists would wish to do that, The United States government should not limit the research on Embryonic stem cells, The more research scientists are allowed to do would give them to tools to be able to break down something as common as a skin cell down and grow an organ from it, find a cure for spinal cord injuries and test pharmaceuticals. Even with the controversy of religious beliefs, the potential of saving thousands of lives across the world for many years to come.
