Ethical Issues Concerning Stem Cell Research

My research will be looking into the ethical and safety concerns of stem cell research that have become extremely polarizing. My research question will be asking what issues have been raised against stem cell research and has it impeded any progress of stem cell research. Other than a democracies role to listen to the majority, it also needs to look out for the well being of its entire population. Therefore, democracy will have to balance human rights and the majorities will. In some countries, there is push for less regulation but government officials still need to make sure that no one gets taken advantage of. Other countries there is push against certain types of stem cell research but they risk falling behind in the medicine world. This

This, however, is countered by the many ethical issues of using embryos and destroying them on top of that. It demands answers to questions about when life first starts and whether embryos have certain rights. Decisions about whether financial compensation should be given to donors. Will money make desperate people make bad decisions taking unnecessary risks? Does payment undermine human dignity? Also should researchers be allowed to create embryos purely to destroy them in their research? Some argue that if we allow this to be done it makes life seem less special and valuable. These are all issues that have to consider when democracies are creating guidelines for stem cell research. Governments around the world will need to protect people from being taken advantage of and the value of life. As I proceed with my research I want to look into how democracies around the world set up their guidelines and see which rules seem to repeatedly come up. So far I have looked at the United States guidelines on the National Institute of Health’s (NIH) website to get a more in depth as a starting point. I will be comparing the United States to a few other countries. I want to see the difference between strict and loose regulation. And whether countries with strict regulation have had trouble implementing new therapies and progressing their research. One

I have already looked at the NIH’s website to gather information about the policy of stem cell research in the United States. I have an in depth understanding of their guidelines for the eligibility of embryos to be used and the process that has to be done to get consent to perform the research. I am going to use scholarly articles and books written by experts in the field as well. I will be looking at a book written by Dr. Joseph Panno, who has a Phd in molecular biology, that will discuss medical applications and ethical issues of stem cell research. There is another article written by Dr. Kyu Won Jung about the change in legislature in response to the Hwang scandal. Something else I am looking for are articles from news organizations and universities about the public opinion about stem cell research. I am also going to do some research on other countries and go over past occurrences that have legitimized ethical concerns, like scandals. I have already looked into Hwang scandal from a few years back in South Korea. I have all the background information that is needed to explain my topic thoroughly enough for anyone to understand. I will also need to look more into a democracy that has strict guidelines and see if it is a detriment to the progress of their