The Pros And Cons Of Stem Cell Research

The article “Stem Cell Research- Science and Policy” was written by a student in 9th grade named Peter A. Kessler in Atlanta, Georgia. This article was written to discuss the policy and moral correctness of stem cell research, along with why in the author’s mind funding this will benefit us, and this article communicates the pros and cons of stem cell research. This was a well written article with insight on the topic stem cell research; there was information from multiple sides of the ethical debate, and presented well thought explanations for why the government should further fund this research. The University of Maryland Medical Center describes stem cell research as “Embryonic stem cells: these are taken from aborted fetuses or fertilized

The embryonic stem (ES) cells have shown some evidence that they could be the key to solving degenerative diseases. Some well known degenerative diseases are… Alzheimer’s disease, Lou Gehrig’s disease, Cancer, Chronic traumatic encephalopathy, and many others; there are over 200 diseases that could be cured with a regenerative ability,. This article discusses the minimal amounts of evidence found for the possibility of embryonic stem cells curing degenerative diseases. The evidence is limited, but is there. John Gurdon and Shinya Yamanaka were able to “‘reprogram’ or revert and adult specialized cell to an embryonic cell-like state in the laboratory by injecting special proteins.” Shinya Yamanaka with other Japanese scientists working alongside him were able to regrow “an entire liver from embryonic stem cells.” With all of these great discoveries being made, there were also setbacks. These embryonic stem cells were being acquired through abortions, so naturally there were laws and amendments set in place restricting this. The Dickey-Wicker amendment stops groups from using funds for the creation of human embryos, but President Bill Clinton decided that it would be allowed to fund this research. The next President George W. Bush changed that amendment and did not allow federal funding of stem cell research. All of this comes into play for the moral debate, which is centered around if

This paper had maybe one assumption. This assumption was that the author believed that the only way to continue and move forward in ES cell research is to have it be government funded. This may be the easiest and simplest resolve to this conflict, but can quites possibly be one of multiple. Other topics to clarify in this paper is definitions; embryonic is the state of a person or animal that is just beginning to develop. Degenerative is often related to a disease or symptom, and is usually “characterized by progressive, often irreversible deterioration, and loss of function in the organs or tissues.” Pluripotent cells are cells that have the ability to grow into any type of adult cell, while “multipotent cells can develop into more than one cell type, but are more limited than pluripotent cells; adult stem cells and cord blood stem cells are considered multipotent.” The information in this article was very accurate throughout and showed good diversity in presenting both