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What exactly is stem cell research?
I know that stem cell research has to do with babies or something. I'm just confused what it is exactly because I know it was a big thing when Bill Clinton was in office and when George W. Bush was in office the first time. I don't remember what it was or anything though. Something about abortions? I don't know....
What is stem cell research?
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Stem cells are special cells that can be transformed into other types of cells. For example, a bunch of stem cells could be turned into a new liver. This would be very valuable to medicine.
Until recently, however, the only source of stem cells were embryos, which is one of the first stages of human development. Embryos are in no way sentient and are only composed of a few hundred cells, but they would become a person if allowed to develop. This causes the controversy.
Nothing that looks like a baby is used in embryonic stem cell research. Hundreds of embryos are discarded in the process of in vitro fertilization, and these are the embryos that are used. They would be thrown away otherwise.
Scientists have now found ways of harvesting stem cells without killing what could eventually be a person. It would not have been possible to develop this new technology without embryonic stem cell research, so attempts to ban embryonic stem cell research *were* wrong.
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There exists a widespread controversy over human embryonic stem cell research that emanates from the techniques used in the creation and usage of stem cells. Human embryonic stem cell research is controversial because, with the present state of technology, starting a stem cell line requires the destruction of a human embryo and/or therapeutic cloning. However, recently, it has been shown in principle that adult stem cell lines can be manipulated to generate embryonic-like stem cell lines using a single-cell biopsy similar to that used in preimplantation genetic diagnosis that may allow stem cell creation without embryonic destruction.[37] It is not the entire field of stem cell research, but the specific field of human embryonic stem cell research that is at the center of an ethical debate.
Opponents of the research argue that embryonic stem cell technologies are a slippery slope to reproductive cloning and can fundamentally devalue human life. Those in the pro-life movement argue that a human embryo is a human life that is entitled to protection.
Contrarily, supporters of embryonic stem cell research argue that such research should be pursued because the resultant treatments could have significant medical potential. It is also noted that excess embryos created for in vitro fertilization could be donated with consent and used for the research.
The ensuing debate has prompted authorities around the world to seek regulatory frameworks and highlighted the fact that stem cell research represents a social and ethical challenge.
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