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Stem Cells

Stem cells are essentially raw materials for the body which specialised cells stem from.

There are 220 different types of specialised cells in the human body, such as blood cells, nerve

cells, brain cells, and cardiac cells. A stem cell that is able to develop into any kind of cell in the

human body is considered to be pluripotent. Embryonic stem cells are the only pluripotent cells

found in the human body. The embryonic stem cells that are used for scientific research are

obtained from in-vitro fertilisation clinics, where unused embryos are donated with consent from

doctors and patients. Embryonic stem cells come from fertilised eggs at in-vitro fertilisation

clinics that were never implanted in women’s uteruses, and they are typically found in three to

five day-old embryos. From there on, they are kept and grown in special solutions in tubes or

petri dishes in labs, and embryonic stem cells that are grown in such environments are able to

remain in a pluripotent state as long as the right growth conditions are present. They can also

divide indefinitely, which makes them easier to grow in laboratories. Embryonic stem cells

typically divide once a day, meaning that over time, scientists can potentially accumulate

millions or even billions of them. The benefits of researching these stem cells include the

potential to produce cells and organs that can be used for transplants. It poses the possibility of

developing cures for spinal cord and bone injuries, acquired autoimmune deficiencies, genetic

disorders, various different birth defects, and such. The patient’s immune system will not see the

transplanted organ as foreign if it is derived from genetically identical cells as well, which

prevents it from attacking it in the way that it would attack an organ with genetic differences.

Embryonic stem cells can also aid in treating other kinds of diseases and bodily disorders, such
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as type 1 diabetes. This particular disease causes beta cells in the patient’s pancreas to die, which

ultimately disrupts the body’s ability to produce insulin until it stops altogether. If scientific

research advances to the point where scientists discover how to derive beta cells from embryonic

stem cells, they can be transplanted into type 1 diabetes patients in order to restore their bodies

ability to produce insulin, rather than having them take insulin injections on a daily basis.

Adult stem cells are similar to embryonic stem cells in the sense that they are

undifferentiated cells, but unlike embryonic stem cells, adult stem cells are not pluripotent. Stem

cells that can only develop into the tissue or organ that they reside in are known as multipotent

cells, which is what adult stem cells are classified as. They reside within many different tissues

in every organism for decades, including the human body. Adult stem cells replace lost cells as

needed in the tissue, an example of this being the growth of new skin on a regular basis. The

process of obtaining adult stem cells for scientific research may vary depending on the tissue that

they are being extracted from, but they are most commonly obtained from a donor’s bone

marrow, a person’s circulating blood, or a baby’s umbilical cord when it is born. Induced

pluripotent cells are derived from adult stem cells, which have been genetically reprogrammed

by scientists into a state that is akin to that of embryonic stem cells. These cells will help

researchers learn how to reprogram cells in order to repair damaged cells in the human body. The

tissues that are then derived from induced pluripotent cells will almost always be identical

genetic matches to the donor, although a complication with adult stem cells is that they may not

be able to produce all kinds of cells through manipulation. They do not divide indefinitely nor as

frequently as embryonic stem cells either, and adult stem cells have a much shorter shelf life in

comparison to them. Researchers are still unaware of whether or not the utilisation of altered
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adult stem cells will result in adverse effects on the human body as well.

Despite the possible benefits of embryonic cell stem research, there is a lot of controversy

surrounding it due to moral and ethical concerns related to the destruction of human embryos. In

many different countries, there have been ongoing political debates due to the question, “when

does human life begin?” Human embryos have the potential to turn into human beings when

properly implanted into a woman’s uterus, which is the root of the ethical controversy

surrounding embryonic stem cell research. There are people who believe that life begins at

conception and that an embryo has the same moral status and rights as a regular human being,

consequently leading to the argument that the destruction of human embryos is murder.

However, there are also plenty of people who disagree with this stance and hold a variety of

different beliefs. For instance, some believe that a blastocyst is nothing more than a clump of

cells and that there should be no moral or ethical concerns related to the usage of human

embryos for embryonic stem cell research.

I personally agree with the statement that claims there are no ethical concerns in using

embryos from in-vitro fertilisation to produce embryonic stem cells for research, as long as all of

the involved parties consent to it. I strongly disagree with the notion that the destruction of

blastocysts is murder, because at that stage, the embryo has hardly even begun to develop and

should not be considered in the same way that humans with a conscience are. The entire

controversy is centred around the fact that the embryo poses a possibility for new human life to

grow, but a week-old embryo should not have the same moral status as a human being. There is

no heartbeat yet either, and thus, I would argue that it cannot be considered as its own person at

that point in time. It is merely a clump of cells, even despite its potential for creating new human
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life. Another point worth mentioning is the fact that the researchers are not obtaining embryos

unethically either; they are receiving donations from willing donors with embryos that they do

not intend on using. Scientifically, the usage of embryos from in-vitro fertilisation to produce

embryonic stem cells for research does not pose any ethical concerns regarding the destruction of

the embryo. It is not murder; it is simply the eradication of the possibility of growing a new

human life.