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Jackie Searle

Douglas R. Winters

Biology 1010

April 28, 2017

Stem Cell Research

Stem cell research has been an extremely controversial subject for many years. Stem cells

are undifferentiated cells. That can develop into other types of cells, usually whatever type of cell

they are near. Stem cell research has made incredible advances in the medical field. It has been

said cell therapies may lead to developments in medicine of the sort seen only in science

fiction. Even with the medical advancements people are still against stem cell research. There

is one major issue, the way stem cells are acquired. Stem cells come from an early living embryo

(14 days or earlier) that is destroyed in the process of collection. In this paper, I will discuss the

pros and cons on stem cell research.

Amazing medical advancements have been made in the study of SC (stem cells) research.

SC help in generating new tissues. Imagine having a heart attack and as a result you now have

damaged heart tissue. After cell therapy your heart would grow new tissue to replace the

damaged tissue. Or maybe you have extreme burns on your body. Instead of creating more scars

from a skin graft, SC will create new tissue to replace the damaged tissue.

SC may also be used to alter genes. It seems likely that we could use stem cells to model

cells with genetic disorders and figure out how to mute certain genes, thus eliminating or

drastically reducing the effects of the disease. This would help in reducing the amount of people

affected by diabetes, Parkinson's, sickle cell, multiple sclerosis, neurofibromatosis,

achondroplasia and Huntington's to name a few.

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Using SC can aide in making organ transplants safer. SC help the body accept the new

organ therefore reducing one of the greatest concerns of organ transplant, rejection. Even with

these amazing benefits of SC, many people still are very much against their use.

Since SC are acquired by destroying an early living embryo, this brings ones ethics into

question. When is an embryo considered living? Is it ethical to use an embryo that is aborted or

remaining IVF embryos that are to be destroyed, therefore the embryo destruction will occur

anyway (600,000 extra embryos are created per year in the U.S.)? What about growing

embryos specifically for research purposes? These questions have plagued SC research for many

years. Opponents stress that embryos are human life and scientists should not be allowed to play

God.

A few years ago, my grandma started the early stages of Alzheimers disease. Watching

her become less and less of the person I know has been extremely difficult. She forgets to

shower, use the restroom, change/wash her clothes, leaves the stove on and take her medication.

She has fell many times and cant remember the incident at all. Consistently states she just ate

with her friends, when I have been with her all day. We now have the same conversation every

thirty seconds. However, I am extremely grateful that she still knows who I am (for today) and

for every day we spend together. If SC research could slow the effects or bring her back to the

person she loved being, I would contribute in any way possible. Alzheimers disease has also

seen positive effects from SC therapy. SC can alleviate symptoms associated with Alzheimers

disease to some extent. I will take anything that I could get.

There are many different viewpoints on SC research. When a disease affects a loved one,

I feel it gives a new perspective on controversial medical treatments that are available. I hope

that sometime soon we come together and find a happy medium and help those that need it
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Chuyi, Huang, et al. "Neurorestorative Strategies for Alzheimer's Disease."

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4, Jul/Aug2015, pp. 583-588. EBSCOhost, doi:10.4103/0028-3886.162057.
Moen, Brian. "Review: Katrien Devolder. The Ethics of Embryonic Stem Cell
Research. Oxford: Oxford
University Press, 2015. 176 Pages; $49.50/Hardcover." Philosophical Forum,
vol. 47, no. 1,
Spring2016, pp. 55-66. EBSCOhost, doi:10.1111/phil.12097.
Stadelmann, David and Benno Torgler. "Voting on Embryonic Stem Cell Research:
Citizens More
Supportive Than Politicians." Plos ONE, vol. 12, no. 1, 26 Jan. 2017, pp. 1-9.
EBSCOhost,
doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0170656.