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The Effects Of Stem Cell On The Human Body

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Reflect back to the year 1984, to the tragic day former professional boxer Muhammad Ali was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease. In a blink of an eye, Ali’s career slipped through his fingertips. Unfortunately, many tragedies such as Ali’s occur everyday whether it is due to an accident or disease. I can relate to this issue along with others who may know someone who suffers from a life long disease such as Parkinson’s, paralysis, or diabetes. For quite some time these diseases have been seen as incurable but embryotic stem cells may hold the cure. With that said, many researchers in the medical field have become quite involved in the study of stem cells. A stem cell is an immature cell that has the potential to become specialized into …show more content…

Although this research could theoretically cure life long diseases, ethical concerns have been brought to the attention to many religions that are against embryonic stem cell research. As I took a closer look at the religion aspect, such as Catholicism and Christianity, the research of ESC is ostracized because the process involves the destruction of a human in its early stages of life. For many religions this study has been compared to abortions in that researchers are not giving the embryo the right to its life (Robertson). From my personal view as a catholic, I do believe that conception declares the start of a human life. Embryos are not just an assortment of cells that can be researched without limitations, they are a person and should be held with respect, and have the same rights as a born child or elder. Along with Christianity and Catholicism, Mormons trust it would be wrong to destroy the embryo no matter what the gestational age is (Dawson). However, I do not believe religions are gazing at the scientific prospective of embryotic stem cell research. Religions that are against ESC research oppose it because they believe scientists are harming healthy embryos but I do not consider that to be the case. There are cases in which an embryo does fail to develop whether it is from miscarriage, abortion, or infertility. Only in

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