To many people, the phrase “stem cell research” is somewhat familiar. For decades now, stem cell therapies such as bone marrow transplants have been in use in order to aide the cures of certain diseases, but when doctors discovered how to remove stem cells from a human embryo, a “human being or animal in an early stage of development, either in its mother’s uterus or in an egg” (“Embryo”), both excitement and controversy arose. Whether human embryonic stem cell (hESC) research is medically, politically, and ethically acceptable has been an extremely delicate issue, and continues to be. If adult stem cells have already been proven to be successful in medical cures, why is there so much attention surrounding human embryonic stem cells? If there …show more content…
Whereas adult stem cells are found in specific tissues throughout the human body where they only have the ability to repair and renew that same type of tissue, embryonic stem cells are unique in that they possess the quality of being pluripotent, which means that they have the ability to become any cell type of the body (National Institutes of Health). However, this mere ability does not actually confirm that they can be successful in providing proper treatments for diseases because it is only potentially …show more content…
Scientifically, it was a big leap, but morally, the research presented many ethical questions and considerations. Time and time again, this research has been put to a halt for this reason. It is imperative to understand that to this day, embryonic stem cells come from a “living embryo” (Brown 1), meaning that the actual source of embryonic stem cells is the inner mass of the cells themselves. To have access to the inner cell mass, the outer membrane of the cell must be dissolved through complex surgical procedures so that the inner mass of the cell can be exposed. The embryo is “literally disremembered” (Brown 1). This is scientific data; it is not made up. This living embryo is exactly that - alive, with full human