What Are The Ethical Issues With Stem Cell Research

Stem Cell Research Stem cell research is one of the most innovative medical research with a bright future to help treat some of the debilitating diseases. However, advancement in stem cell research is still at early stage partly due to the ethical, legal and political controversies surrounding it. The ethical issues with stem cell research are multifaceted in their nature, starting with the sources of the stem cell that are used in the research to be conducted, the way the research are conducted, the trial phases, and the remedies for the consequences if anything goes wrong.

One of the most debated and ethically challenged type of stem cell research is the human embryonic stem cell research. Lo & Parham, (2009) says, "Human embryonic stem

Therefore, in one way or the other, the embryos are going to be destroyed anyways. The utilitarian argument has not received as much attention as the first, yet is an important key to justify hESC research. If one assumes that frozen embryos are going to be discarded anyway, why not utilize them for research? Even if one is distressed by the destruction of an embryo, isn’t it better if some good can come from it? The utilitarian argument seems to make some sense, and deserves a thoughtful response. The difference in ethical issues are due to individual 's view about the beginning of life. Due to religion, culture and heritage the fate is founded up on, some believe life starts at conception and hence an embryo is a humane while others believe life starts after the embryo is implanted in the womb and hence the embryo resulted from fertilization outside the womb is not human. These controversies limit the resources of funds needed for the stem cell

The transparency with the way the research is conducted is also frightening. Most research organizations and researchers do not want to disclose their internal work protocols because they think doing so will jeopardize their research progress by giving an opportunity for others to embark on the same work by using their exposed body of knowledge. Such lack of transparency will keep the rest of the world in dark about what is going on with something that affects human race, down the road. To give more specific example, Pozgar (2013) says, "After all, a sheep named Dolly was cloned and born in 1996, and who knows what is going on behind the closed doors of research, which are closed to the outside world" (p. 114). If researchers are able to create a ship almost two decades ago, there is no reason not to believe that they have the capacity to create human being. For such a destruction to become a reality, it takes only either one rogue organization or an ill-fated individual. When Einstein came up with a formula, E=mc2 which was a blue print for the creation of nuclear fission, he definitely didn 't think the USA was going to use on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Individual 's privacy is one of the most ethical concern in today 's advancement in technology that brings much destruction with itself. As we know most of gene manipulation and sequencing are done one computer. If hackers are able to break in to big name industries such as Sony, IBM, or the shopping giants such as Macy 's and