As technology and science are continually progressing there are always bioethical questions that appear ranging from science related questions to morality based questions. One question that stands out is “Should scientists be held to some standard of integrity and honesty?” This is widely debated question that has been around for a while now after a lot of public controversy over past research experiments that call out the moral issues about science. People are concerned about the honesty about science of how research will be shown to society and how scientists will perform their research without being corrupt. Most of the research that scientists do is to fully understand the fundamental questions of biology and also help …show more content…
In Vitro Fertilization is the largest potential source for getting blastocysts for this type of research as it provides a major source of embryonic stem cells. During nuclear transfer, the nucleus of a differentiated adult stem cell is inserted to a donated egg that has no nucleus. This egg then is stimulated to form a blastocyst from where embryonic stem cells can be taken from. This type of procedure up to this point hasn’t been successful with human embryonic stem cells but with animals has been accomplished. The adult stem cells are found in some organs in the body and are being used in therapies to treat some diseases. Some of the known sources for adult stem cells so far are in the bone marrow, blood, brain, eyes, liver, muscle, and skin. Scientists can so far identify some stem cells by their markers and/or by their behavior in laboratories but yet finding stem cells is still difficult. Research on stem cells is widely pursued because it is known that most diseases arise through loss of single type of cell or tissue so scientists are hopeful that by using stem cells major diseases could be cured with therapies involving these cells. So far success has been established through blood and skin transplants that have been able to help people which have given hope for more therapies for different diseases. Victims of severe burns have been able to see benefits from this as this technology has let them receive skin
Stem cells are cells that have the potential to develop into different types of cells in the body. Stem cells also act as a repair system for many tissues in the body by dividing repeatedly to replenish other cells within a person (National Institutes of Health). Stem cell research seeks to further the advancement of the use of stem cells as well as to find an ethical way to study them. In November 1998, researchers found a way to isolate and culture human embryonic stem cells, (Bevington 2005). The ethics of stem cell research has been debated over the years and some people fully support the use of stem cells, whereas others are completely against the use of stem cells. This has been an ongoing battle for scientists over the span of two decades prior to the 1998 finding.
When talking about the ethical issue surrounding embryonic stem cells their are 2 main moral principles:
First of all an understanding of what a stem cell is, where it comes from, and the significance of it's medical potential is essential. Stem cells are the "master cells" that form the human body or whatever other animal it is from. Stem cells can be extracted from adult tissues, bone marrow, umbilical cord blood ( ), and embryos in the blastocyst stage. Although scientists have found ways to manipulate the stem cells from adult sources into other types of cells, they claim that they are less capable of deriving the desired tissue and are not "biologically equivalent" ( ) to stem cells extracted from embryos.
Researchers successfully attained embryonic stem cells from the embryos of mice in 1981, which led to the discovery of this process in human beings in 1998 (National Institutes of Health, 2001). Embryonic stem cells are derived from an in vitro embryo between five days and seven weeks. Regenerative medicine can benefit greatly from the characteristics of embryonic stem cells. This process enables damaged organs and tissues to heal themselves with the help of implanted stem cells matching the organ (Hunziker, 2010, p. 1). There are two traits
IVF patients willingly donate blastocysts for research. Scientists never simply create a blastocyst with the intentions of using it in research. All embryos used in research come from IVF, or In Vitro Fertilization, clinics; furthermore, they are all excess. This means that if they aren’t used, they will be put in a freezer to eventually be disposed of in the future. To stop this, many IVF patients will donate spare embryos with the hope that their contribution will be able to help the world of science and the world of medicine to make advances. This means that all blastocysts that are used for the purpose of embryonic stem cell research are not taken by scientists; every blastocysts is voluntarily donated. Furthermore, the blastocyst has yet to differentiate; therefore, it can’t feel pain. This is important to remember when considering the debatable funding of embryonic stem cells, for this may decrease the controversy. Knowing the blastocyst isn’t a human, nor will it ever become a human, may cause people to think of using embryos differently. If a blastocyst is donated, scientist will access the pluripotent stem cells on the inside before the cells get a chance to fully differentiate into a human. If stem cells don’t go towards research, they will be frozen, then put in the incinerator, and
The society is not at an agreeable point when it comes to the research of stem cells obtained from human embryos. The disagreement narrows down to a clash between the two fundamental principles of ethics: The duty to prevent and alleviate suffering, and the duty to respect the value of human life. In most situations, both principles can be satisfied. However, in the research of embryonic stem cells, it might not be inherently possible.
“While we must devote enormous energy to conquering disease, it is equally important that we pay attention to the moral concerns raised by the new frontier of human embryo stem cell research. Even the most noble ends do not justify any means.” This quote comes from former president George W. Bush during a radio conference where he discussed his decision to allow federal funds to be used for stem cell research only in cases where the embryos were not harmed. While still in the beginning stage of exploration, stem cell research, and more specifically embryonic stem cell research, has become a topic of great debate. The ethics and procedures involved have come into question not only by the Catholic Church, but also by many citizens and even our presidents. The morality of this new scientific development lies in the way these stem cells are obtained. For scientists to acquire embryonic stem cells they must be removed from a destroyed embryo. For some this is just a small obstacle or nuisance in technicalities as to what a human being is, while for other it is seen as murder and the taking of a life before it even had a chance. Another reason the use of embryos is frowned upon is because of the alternate and successfully proven approach of using somatic stem cells, which do not require any human life to be harmed. The Catholic Church, being an institution of God and supporting all life, for obvious reasons cannot be a supporter of embryonic stem cell research because of the
Stem cells were first discovered during an experiment with mice in 1981 ("Stem Cell Information"). Scientists extracted stem cells from embryonic mice, which led to the discovery of vitro-fertilization in 1998. Virto fertilization is used to conceive a child in a laboratory, for parents who cannot conceive naturally. The fertilized egg is then implanted inside a mother's uterus and a child begins to form. Without the discovery of stem cells, this process might not have been able to give parents the children they have always wanted ("Stem cells: What they are and what they do"). However, this is causing some controversy in today's society. Embryonic stem cells are obtained from embryos not placed inside a female. Researchers felt it could harm or even kill the undeveloped child, so they felt the only solution was to grow the fertilized eggs in laboratories. The embryos are grown in labs with consent from their donors. The stem cell obtained from these embryos are being used to benefit burn victims so they could grow healthy skin, people with spinal cord injuries so they could have the chance to walk again and even people with type I diabetes to help produce their own insulin. If these cells are able to be manipulated enough, there might even be a cure for cancer or any other heart breaking diseases wrecking havoc today (Mayo Clinic Staff). Stem cells are also
Embryonic stem cell research can be easily defined. A stem is defined as something that is developed from. A cell is defined as a microscopic living organism. According to Dennis Hollinger, "Embryonic stem cell research uses from the embryo's inner cell mass that give rise to each of the human body's many different tissue types"(1). In our modern day society, stem cell research has become a controversial topic. Several people strongly oppose the idea of the research, but many are struggling for the continuance of the program. Embryonic stem cell research should be allowed to continue because it aids in the search of cures for diseases, offers an alternative to discarding unused embryos from in vitro fertilization, and is supported by the
The stem cell controversy has been going on for many years. The two basic controversies surrounding stem cell research is whether or not it is morally justifiable, and if stem cells will ever live up to the medical promises. Most of these controversies concern embryonic stem cells more than any other stem cells. Embryonic stem cells are unspecialized, but have the ability to divide and make specialized cells like muscles, nerves, and skin cells. These cells are found in the early stage of human development. When the human egg is fertilized by sperm and becomes a blastocyst, which is basically a cluster of stem cells, the harvesting for embryonic stem cells begins. In order to harvest the stem cells scientists basically destroy the blastocyst. The embryonic stem cell is an efficient treatment for a variety of diseases that affect many human beings. Those diseases include Parkinson’s, muscular dystrophy, heart diseases, diabetes, vision and hearing loss, or even spinal cord injury.
The stem cells that originate in the inner mass found in embryos a few days old are grown in the laboratory and are referred to as embryonic stem cells. A branch of these cells are embryonic germ cells, and these are derived from egg and sperm cells in a five to ten week old fetus. Both of these types of stem cells are pluripotent. In embryonic stem cells, the blastocyst cells divide and eventually develop into all of the tissues and organs of human beings. Embryonic stem cells are capable of being grown in the laboratory from blastocysts and made to differentiate into nerve, liver, muscle, blood, and other cells. (Morgani, et al.
Stem cell research and engineering is a widely disputed topic that often divides people in science, ethics, and religion. In order to fully understand the controversy surrounding this area of scientific research and discovery, one must be informed as to what stem cells are. In the article, “Human Embryonic Stem Cells: Research, Ethics and Policy”, stem cells are described as “primitive cells with the capacity to divide and give rise to more identical stem cells or to specialize and from specific cells of somatic tissues” (Wert 672). Essentially, stem cells can potentially provide an unlimited supply of cells that could form some or all body cells. This ability to transform into different types or all types of cells depends of the type of stem cell, which can be divided into embryonic stem cells and adult stem cells (Bishop 1). Embryonic stem cells are extracted from preimplantation embryos and are pluripotent, meaning they possess the ability to form cells of all tissues in the adult human body. Adult stem cells, however, are limited to what tissues they can transform into.
A fairly new area of research has emerged in which scientists are looking into using stem cells for various sources. One of the major problems that arose with this new area of research was the ethics of using embryonic stem cells (ESCs) to conduct research. This brought up problems, especially within the Catholic Church, as to when does life first begin. Taking these undeveloped embryos was seen as taking the life of an unborn child. New insights into this area of research have shed light onto alternative methods of studying using stem cells. This includes the reprogramming of various cells into a state that can be programmed into various tissue types in the body. Of course as promising as this area of research sounds, there are many implications that need to be studied further before scientists are ready to administer such treatment to patients on a large scale. This paper will seek to familiarize readers with stem cells, the idea of pluripotency, what cellular reprogramming is, the benefits and drawbacks of cellular reprogramming, and applications of reprogramming.
However, embryos are unnecessary for successful scientific research and medical practices. Adult stem cells can be removed safely from bone marrow, circulating blood, umbilical cord blood, or fat. These adult cells will perform very similarly, and often better, than the embryonic cells. They can both be used to research the effects of particular diseases such as cancer or Alzheimer's, and are used medically to generate healthy cells and replace diseased or missing cells. In this method, stem cells are used to grow anything from a small skin graft to parts of an organ. Adult stem cells have a significantly higher success rate in medical institutions; it makes more sense to generate cells from your own body or that of someone whom can be matched to blood type and genes rather than an unknown and untested embryo. However, it is a slightly more difficult and time-consuming process to acquire adult stem cells versus embryonic, and in the industrialized world of 2015 time is money, and money runs the world (Stem
While some people might say that stem cell research is immoral and unethical, others believe that it is a magical solution for almost any problem, thus leading to a very controversial issue. Scientists have been searching for years for ways to eradicate incurable diseases and perform other medical procedures that yesterday's technology would not fix. With the rapidly arising, positive research on stem cell technology, the potential that exists to restore any deficiency is in the same way, likely to destroy humanity. America is suffering from its inability to choose who holds precedence over this issue. Too many of us find it impossible to reach a basis for which our differing opinions can be shared and formed into a universal and