Argumentative Essay On Stem Cells

Stem cells, often called the building blocks of the human body, are positioned within the body’s blood, tissues, organs, and immune system. Once they are transplanted, they have the capability to either reconstruct or restore a patient’s damaged cells which could enhance the patient’s health; and in some cases can conclusively save a person’s life. The umbilical cord is used as a basic lifeline from the mother to the baby throughout the pregnancy. If stem cells from the umbilical cord are collected, they can help the human being long after birth. A benefit is the flexibility of the umbilical cord which allows them to easily function within the body after the transplant- which results in a smaller chance of the body rejecting the cells,
Adult stem cells have been located in bone marrow, peripheral blood, bone marrow, many organs and tissue, skeletal muscle, testis, and ovarian epithelium. They divide and create new cells naturally, but only after the tissue is destroyed by an injury. These stems cells can be taken from fat, bone marrow, or blood, with little to no effect on the person. Since the cells can be taken from the tissue they originally came from, they do not destroy the embryo in the process; which results in no ethical issues. This has been proven to be effective, and there is a vast supply. As for disadvantages, adult stem cells are more difficult to identify, let alone retrieve. As the name suggests, embryonic stem cells are located in the embryo and can rebuild themselves into the same cell. These cells are undifferentiated meaning they can be used in all parts of the body which could potentially cure blood and immune system diseases, cancer, spinal cord injury and copious amount of other diseases. One of the main disadvantages with using embryonic stem cells for research is that human embryos are destroyed during the process of gathering the cells. This causes many people to believe that this is unethical because it is destroying a human