The Pros And Cons Of Embryonic Stem Cells

Stem cells are unspecialized cells that have the ability to improve the lives of millions around the world. Stem cells specifically “are unspecialized cells that can self-renew indefinitely and also differentiate into more mature cells with specialized functions”(National 1). This means that stem cells can be collected and then doctors are able to use them in many different places of the body, wherever they are needed, and in whatever function they are needed for in the body. With this ability, stem cells have the potential to “develop tissue-replacement therapies that will restore lost function in damaged organs… [and] make progress in the development of treatments for human diseases” (National 2). Stem cells even have “potential therapies

Embryonic stem cells not only have the moral dilemma but also have more complications than that adult stem cells have. The debate between using adult stem cells and embryonic stem cells “has confounded pundits, politicians, and the media”(Solo 15). One of the moral troubles behind using embryonic stem cells is the “issue to heat up the debate on when life begins”(Solo 17). Embryonic stem “cells are harvested through in-vitro fertilization, meaning that the egg is artificially fertilized in a laboratory” (Cafasso). The cells are harvested for a few days and “in the process, the embryo… is destroyed” (Cafasso). The Embryonic stem cell controversy is causing research to more difficult; embryonic stem cells not only have the moral dilemma but also have more complications that adult stem cells have. Embryonic stem cell research, regardless of the controversy, has much potential and must continue in order to truly understand the benefits. However, since adult stems cells have already been proven to work, what is the point of going through the ethical dilemmas that come with embryonic stem cells? Another issue with embryonic stem cell research would be the “competition for federal medical research funds, it would be important to ascertain whether the organizations that were devoted to curing specific diseases had an interest in stem cell research and to

However, the research could possibly do so without braking ethical and moral boundaries. Embryonic stem cell research holds numerous possibilities in the progress of therapy and the health of people across the world, but this information cannot be discovered without continued research. Embryonic stem cell research calls for the embryo of a potential child to be destroyed. However, if scientists were able to further research by using the embryos of a potential abortion, imagine all the research that could be accomplished on an embryo that would have died anyway. By using this method and with research, all the capabilities of embryonic stem cells could be discovered and could benefit millions of lives of people that are diseased or suffering. Embryonic stem cells “provide the potential for a wider variety of applications” and “they offer one cell source for multiple indications” ("Defend Embryonic Stem Cell Research"). Basically, with further research, it is believed by many researchers that embryonic stem cells have the potential to do more than adult stem cells. Embryonic stem cells have many capabilities; they “have shown that they can develop into multiple tissue types and exhibit long-term and self-renewal in cultures, [with] features that have not been demonstrated with many human adult stem cells” (National 2). With continued research and the embryonic stem cell therapies that will hopefully be available in the future, these stem