Embryonic Stem Cell Research: An Ethical Debate

A New Promise
Everyday, whether an adult or a child, individuals are sat down to receive the awful news that they have been diagnosed with fatal diseases. Diseases such as cancer, Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s are a few of them. Such illnesses are now considered as incurable and lethal. However, have not illnesses such as Polio seemed incurable to mankind at one point? The first Polio epidemic occurred in 1894, which spread fear and a contagious virus. It was not until 1955, that a vaccine for Polio was introduced. Although the cure took time, such medical advances have allowed the elimination of deadly diseases. Nevertheless, to obtain the cures for such illnesses a medical breakthrough is required. Medical professionals must take a leap of
The ethical and political controversy is centered on extracting the stem cells from the embryo. The only way to obtain the cells is by destroying the embryo, placing the moral status of an embryo into question. This research plays with two important principles: “the duty to prevent or alleviate suffering, and the duty to respect the value of human life” (Hug 108). Embryonic stem cell research poses an unruly question that places one in a position where one principle is of higher value than the other. There is not a global consensus to what should be done about embryonic stem cell research. With an ongoing pool on both sides, exists a moral dispute, ethical consequences versus the promise in the medical field. Extracting stem cells by destroying a human embryo is to some people ethically violating basic human principles. Others, however, argue that sacrifices must be made for the benefit of
Two of the most important factors of stem cell research are tissue regeneration and treatment of diseases. Embryonic stem cell research can alter neurological diseases as well as spinal cord injuries. With the use of pluripotent stem cells, researchers can carefully observe the development of cells from fetal development to adulthood. They can pinpoint the precise location where cells begin to malfunction and diseases form. Observing the development of diseases, allows scientists to come up with cures in order to fight the spread and later development. One example of a neurological disease is Parkinson’s. Parkinson’s disease patients suffer from the destruction of cells that produce dopamine, a neurotransmitter. Using embryonic stem cells, researchers were able to formulate new dopamine-producing cells and transplant them into the body, which would relieve their symptoms (Murnaghan). Embryonic stem cells have the potential to replace damaged cells from a resulting injury, adding support to the damage myelin sheath, protecting cells at injury site and inhibiting the spread of the injury. “I truly believe that stem cell research is going to allow our children to look at al and diabetes and other major diseases the way we view polio today, which is as a preventable disease” (Susan Solomon: The promise of stem cell