The Pros And Cons Of Embryonic Stem Cells

500 Words2 Pages

A stem cell is a simple cell in the body that is able to develop into any one of various kinds of cells. There are different types of stem cells for example adult stem cells, embryonic (or pluripotent) stem cells. Adult stem cells are undifferentiated cells, found throughout the body after development. Embryonic stem cells are pluripotent, meaning they are able to grow into all derivatives of the three primary germ layers. Stem cell research is controversial because some religions believe that stem cell research is okay and others think it isn’t. This is because some religions believe scientist are destroying life that is not yet born. The pros of stem cell research is they can save lives, scientist can learn more about human growth and cell development, and drug testing can become safer and or efficient. By researching stem cells scientist can discover new cures for different diseases. For example Parkinson’s disease has been cured by this. Scientist can learn more about human growth and cell development by studying stem cells. Also drug testing can become safer and more efficient. Scientists can differentiate cells into a different cell type upon which they can quickly test whether a drug has a desired effect. For example, researchers could test drug toxicity. This will make the drug development process and then the clinical …show more content…

The use of embryonic stem cells for research involves the destruction of blastocysts formed from laboratory-fertilized human eggs. For those people believe that life begins at conception, the blastocyst is a human life and to destroy it is unacceptable. Stem cell research is very expensive. The cost of a single stem cell treatment is typically about $10,000. Some clinics found some ways to reduce the cost by 20%. Outside the United States it can be up to $100,000. These are some cons of stem cell