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Cell Therapy Should not be allowed in Treatment of Diseases

Though there are many people who consider stem cells and their use for treatment of

diseases as a promise and great hope for understanding diseases and cure, opponents disagree.

They argue that there are major disadvantages as well as key ethical concerns that arise with this.

One of the disadvantages that is commonly discussed include the aspect that the development of

the implanted human embryo is cut short (Ferreira et al., 751). This is because the blastocyst is

destroyed this many people view this as cutting short the human life. Considerably, there is no

guarantee whatsoever that the stem cells use for treatment of diseases is efficient and effective.

Key concerns have also been raised on the storage of the stem cells since they are collected

before birth (Zakrzewski et al., 13). Though some clinics have considered storing this in blood

from the umbilical cord, key issues have always been raised on the best approach to store stem

cells. Besides, this has always raised the issues of mutations.

In most cases, the stem cells cultured through various generations have been seen go have

major mutations which make them unsuccessful when used for treatment of diseases. For

example, some research show that some of these mutations observed in these stem cells are

similar to the ones seen with cancer (De Luca et al., 809). This means that the cultured stem cells

can be easily contaminated with various viruses besides been exposed to these mutations. For

example, this has been highly seen when transferring the cells for treatment. The issues around

the obtaining of the stem cells also raises serious issues on ethical conduct of medics. In most

cases, this is highly associated with the fact that these stem cells are mostly obtained from
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unused embryos through the vitro fertilization approach (Ferreira et al., 758). In other many

cases, the obtaining of these cells is done through therapeutic cloning. This process has always

raised serious ethical concerns. Among these concerns is the issues around the right to create or

produce stem cells that are specifically meant for therapy.

The issues of destroying them before they are developed has also been argued as an

unethical point because it majorly features the cutting short of undeveloped human life. From

another point of view, the consideration of embryos for stem cells has ethical issues because with

time, the embryos for the same will be viewed as a commodity (Brown et al., 1745). For

example, serious allegations have been made towards the medical field on the development of

embryos for the same process citing major concerns on the right as well as the ethical aspect of

preserving life. In many cases, some of these medical experts have been accuses with viewing

the same as commodities unlike a life that needs to develop into a person (Zakrzewski et al., 21).

Various agencies and researchers have also accused the field of lacking critical and established

frameworks and rules on the stage which the development of the stem cells can be cut short and

regarded for the treatment purposes.

It is considered quite unethical to lack these frameworks because the uncontrolled aspects

attached to obtaining the same raises serious issues of crimes against human life and

conservation of life (De Luca et al., 807). In other cases, the issues around graft versus the host

disease have been raised. This pertains the allogeneic transplants whereby some of the

transplanted cells for curing diseases begin to attack other body cells (Ferreira et al., 749). This

brings about the risks of reduced blood cells which in most cases leads to serious issues such as

anemia. This also prompts an increase in infections as well as excess bruising and bleeding.

There are also concerns around the side effects that are attached to the chemotherapy process.
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For example, many patients have complained of serious effects like tiredness, infertility,

sicknesses, and hair loss. The failure of the cells to work as they are expected also raises some

serious issues. Besides, the patients are also at risk of developing tumors after the cell transplant.

The donation of biological materials and the stem cells has also raised major debates. For

example, the issues around voluntary and informed consent is a critical issue that has globally

been discussed.

Many of these experts engage in unethical procedures and means of obtaining the stem

cells which raises many questions. The payment for the same has always affected the process of

protecting key reproductive interests more so women. Besides, infertility issues have been

attached to the use of stem cells in treatment which raises conflicting ethical standards. The fact

that the use of stem cells has not been well established across the global medical field raises

serious legal issues (Brown et al., 1752). This is also associated with the risks attached to the

clinical trials that are been made on the same. The field lacks key experimental interventions

through which they can be able to establish the benefits and success of the use of stem cells for

treatment of diseases. The research besides this also raises questions on the same trials. For

example, the number of each tissue is quite small to not only find but also purify for the process.

The lack of key technologies for the generation of large amounts of the stem cells in culture

makes this approach quite questionable too (Zakrzewski et al., 16). In many cases, scientific

research has shown that the risk of rejection of the stem cells by the body's immune system are

quite high. As said earlier, there are critical examples of cases where the stem cells have turned

into cancer cells through mutations and basic compromise to the immune system. This makes

stem cells an unproven commodity for research and use more so when it comes to the treatment

of diseases.
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Work Cited

Brown, Christina, et al. "Mesenchymal stem cells: Cell therapy and regeneration

potential." Journal of tissue engineering and regenerative medicine 13.9 (2019): 1738-

1755.

De Luca, Michele, et al. "Advances in stem cell research and therapeutic development." Nature

Cell Biology 21.7 (2019): 801-811.

Ferreira, L. M., et al. (2019). Next-generation regulatory T cell therapy. Nature reviews Drug

discovery, 18(10), 749-769.

Zakrzewski, Wojciech, et al. "Stem cells: past, present, and future." Stem cell research &

therapy 10 (2019): 1-22.