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While some people believe that stem cell research is against all moral, ethical, and religious practices and that it should not be allowed to be practiced or performed, others believe that it could lead to numerous breakthroughs in the medical community that could save lives. Stem cell research is a controversial topic that has been around for many years now in the medical community.
Stem cells have the surprising ability to develop into many of the different cell types that we have in our bodies as humans; for example, muscle cells, red blood cells, or brain cells. Stem cells serve as a “repair system” for the human body, as long as the person is still living when they receive them.
Through the use of stem cell research, it will become more evident why people are born with birth defects and inherited diseases, allowing medical professionals to seek a cure or prevention for these problems. It will also allow medical professionals to understand how serious diseases such as cancer are caused in a once entirely healthy human body and work towards a cure for it. In addition, stem cell research can be used for forms of medical therapy because both tissue and cells can be grown that are perfect matches for the person receiving them, so there is no risk of rejection. Because of this, it will be much easier for the patients on the donor list to receive important organs that they may need to survive; the current transplant list greatly exceeds the number of available and/or willing donors. It is also possible for the cells and tissues grown using stem cell research to be used in medical cases involving serious conditions and diseases such as Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s and people with arthritis and people that have suffered from strokes.
There are many ethical issues that surround the topic of stem cell research. Many people are concerned with the fact that the pluripotent stem cells, the cells that are used for the research because they can transform into the many different cell types that we have in our bodies as humans, because they are taken from human embryos that are less than a few days old or fetal tissue that is 8 weeks or older. A lot of people are concerned with how researchers are going to go about obtaining the pluripotent stem cells from embryos and/or fetal tissue. There is a strict governmental supervision of the stem cell research to make sure that it does not violate any laws or rights.
Through the practice of stem cell research, people on the long organ transplant list will stand a chance of getting an organ that can save their life and, with the use of stem cell research; they will not have to worry about their body rejecting it or the possible organ for them not being a match. It will make finding cures for diseases that we once considered impossible a possibility. People suffering from cancer, HIV, hepatitis, Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, and other conditions will be given a new found hope in surviving.