Preview

Ethics In Science

Powerful Essays
Open Document
Open Document
1304 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Ethics In Science
Ethics is the difference between what is morally right and wrong. A scientist has to know the ethical consequences of their work. The scientist is responsible. There are many consequences like the harm and amount of risk and benefit in science. There are also ethical procedures involved in science. These procedures include promoting aims of research and knowledge. These procedures help ensure accountability. The big difference is that ethics and laws are not the same. Laws are established rules while ethics is the morals of a culture. Ethics is important because it makes sure that cooperation and joint endeavors run smoothly. One example of ethics in science is stem cell research. Stem Cell Research is when undeveloped cells are molded from adult cells, embryonic cells, and cord cells to finally be created as other cells.
Stem Cell research is used as a treatment for such problems as heart disease, diabetes leukemia, and etc. One pro is that adult stem cells are a renewable source of replacement cells and tissues. Researching and using these stem cells may lead to progress and future discoveries in the future. That is the good part, but there are also some cons. These cons mostly got to do with embryonic stem cells. Some stem cells are taken from embryonic stem cells. The problem is that scientists find extraction more important than the misery of destroying a human being. Scientists such as Dr. Javier Lopez said “This is the future of medicine, and I want to be a part of it.” Now, Stem Cells hold great potential in helping many human diseases and conditions. Stem cells are able to reproduce without causing damage. These are the ethics of stem cell research. Stem Cells overall can both save and destroy people.
In the article, “Scientists Fabricate Rudimentary Human Livers” by Gina Kolata speaks about scientists who have created a human liver from stem cells. This is good because it is a monumental achievement in science. This human liver is an example that

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    This is bad on both ends of the spectrum. If stem cells were to be proven useless, this would be considered a waste of time and money. If they prove to be extremely powerful and can transform into any cell possible, there may be talk that this kind of technology can be overwhelming. Overwhelming in the sense that what if these stem cells are powerful enough to make a brand new human being? What if people use these stem cells on themselves to make themselves look 21 years old until they die or remodel certain aspects of their body to make it so it fits their desire? It will be a sense of cheating out life by just getting the easy way out of a lot of…

    • 661 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Embryos are essentially microscopic human beings. Regardless of what good they may provide to the field of medicine, the ethical controversies surrounding embryonic stem cell research are profound. Stem cells, the cells used by the human body to replenish damaged tissue, are found in both embryonic and adult form. At the adult level, stem cells can be extracted from bone marrow, but the real ethical debate arises when embryonic stem cells are introduced. “Pluripotent” embryonic stem cells are among the only type that can form any of over 200 cell types, making it the most useful and versatile. These cells are isolated from the inner cell mass of the embryo when extracted, and subsequently terminates the embryo itself, which is technically manslaughter. However, it must also be noted that embryonic stem cell research can provide effective treatments and even cures for those in need of organ transplants and other irremediable predicaments. Therefore, it is safe to say, from a utilitarian perspective, that the essential “death” of one embryo can save the lives of many, and with Jeremy Bentham’s phrase “the greatest good for the greatest number”; I believe that embryonic stem cell research is ethical.…

    • 1044 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    “Biomedicine” intends to increase quality of life via new research. One of the recent biomedical research is “Human Stem Cell” from which all 210 different kinds of tissue in the human body originate(the Center for Bioethics and Human Dignity, 94). Additionally, UNESCO states that separating some inner cell mass from the embryo at the blastocyst stage, they can be cultured to produce pluripotent stem cells, capable of developing into blood , muscle, or many other kinds of tissues and organs of the body (13). Thus, at first “Stem Cell” may sound hopeful for human life but…

    • 1187 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Human cloning and organ harvesting are both immoral and unethical but should not be used as an argument against stem cells and stem cell research. Laws can regulate cloning and harvesting so this slippery slope never occurs, but prohibiting research into a field that can eventually prevent genetic disorders that dominant traits like Alzheimer’s and recessive traits like sickle cell can be fixed by gene replacement using stem cells, I don’t see a reason not to fund such research. Rifkin discusses the alternative research on adult stem cells as a better alternative, but either the fact that he is unaware that these cells show more flexibility then the adult stem cell counterpart. The fact that…

    • 570 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Adult stem cells do not have any ethical issues. Adult stem cells are harvested from grown people who have decided to donate them, sometimes this is to a loved one whereas others it is for a stranger. The people who have decided to donate them see some side effects, but the procedure is not life risking. In contrast, embryonic stem cells are where all of the ethics issues lay. Many people think embryonic stem cells are unethical since they come from embryos that die after the stem cells are extracted (cirm). Many adults do not agree with the death of these embryos. The embryos do not have an option, they never even had a chance to live because their life was taken away from them. On the other side, people think the benefits of stem cells are more important. The amount of lives stem cells might be able to save with more research is greater than the embryos which have been killed to save them. Stem cells have many advantages and disadvantages, But in the end everyone has the same desire, to save…

    • 2096 Words
    • 9 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Ethics of Stem Cell Research

    • 2751 Words
    • 12 Pages

    Stem cell research represents a new opportunity for ethical thought and debate. Stem cells are primitive cells which have yet to specialize. Through proper coaxing, stem cells can be made to differentiate into usable body cells and eventually used for medical treatment. Though stem cell technology has been in development since the 1960’s, it was not until August of 2001, when then-president George W. Bush announced that federal funds could be allotted to embryonic stem cell research, that the issue became a hot political topic. The matter is argued with vehement fervor, but the quarrels are wrought with emotivism and partisanship more than actual valid and cogent arguments. In fact, stem cell research has a very broad range of ethical implications. The normative ethical theories, the abortion debate, and even business ethics all have a place in the discussion due to the different new moral challenges which are prompted by this blossoming technology.…

    • 2751 Words
    • 12 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Society does not view stem cell reasearch as ehtically wrong because some might say that it holds the key to reversing to effects of aging and or can prolong our lives here on Earth. What some can agree that is ethically wrong about stem cell research is the research of embryonic stem cells. Those who value human life from the point of conception, oppose embryonic stem cell reseach because the extraction of stems cells from this type of embryo requires its desturction. In other words, it requires human life to be killed in order to save another. In which society matches it with abortion or even murder. for example i know we all watched my sister's keeper. The reason why Kate survived was because the stem cells were injected into the embyro in order to be a perfect match for Kate. You saw how Anna was being treated and how her health was affected in order to save her own sister's life. Why do we have to use cells from an innocent life or why do we even need to do research on it when there are so many other resoruces we can use to find a cure for other diseases such a cancer and blood presure. It is said that it may be decades before a cure or if any cure could be found for cancer and other dieseases. And if research has been going on for so long and so much as been used in order to contunie that research why hasnt any cure been found in those past years? In some cases those stem cells are being thrown away because well they have found that stem cells grow a type of chromosomal anomalies that create cancer cells. In which if injected into a patinet the patient can be become ill and soon enough gain the deadly disease cancer. And as of today, there is no cure that has been founded upon stem cell research that can fully cure the…

    • 342 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Better Essays

    Ethics is the science of morals which is a branch of philosophy that is concerned with…

    • 1697 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    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.…

    • 381 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    One of the biggest political debates of recent times is whether the government should not only allow, but appropriate funds for the research of all types of stem cells mainly the embryonic stem cell. A stem cell is a primitive type of cell that can be manipulated into developing into most of the cells present in the body. Scientists believe that the stem cell is the single most important element in the cure of many diseases, which include heart disease, diabetes, Alzheimer's, and some types of cancer. Stem cells can be extracted from both adults and young embryos. The differences of an embryonic stem cell and an adult stem cell in most peoples eyes are that cells can be extracted from adults for research without harm to adult, but those extracted from embryos are the result of the destruction of the embryo. Scientists believe that although adult stem cells can be helpful in the research in disease, those cells are inferior to those of a human embryo because the embryonic stem cell can developing in almost all the types of cells in the body, but the adult variety is limited in how many cells it can develop into. The Coalition for the advancement of Medical Research estimates, "…stem cell research shows promise to develop cures and/or new treatments for 100 million Americans who currently suffer from a wide variety of diseases and disorders."…

    • 2512 Words
    • 11 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Stem Cell Research has become a household term, and is often at center stage in political and social discussions because some people are morally conflicted regarding one method of sourcing these cells. “The stem cells may be harvested from a three to five day old embryo called a blastocyst. The cells that are present inside these embryos are called specialized cells and form the organs such as the lungs, skin, heart, sperm, eggs, and other tissues. An alternate method of harvesting stem cells is from adults. In adult tissues, such as brain, muscle, and bone marrow, distinct groups of stem cells generate replacements for cells that die off. This is a good tool for the health field because it creates a possibility for replacement organs and tissues that would normally have to be harvested from live donors. The involvement of stem cells in medicine would increase the availability of organs to help save lives. (eHow)”…

    • 2234 Words
    • 9 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Best Essays

    In as much has been spoken of the possibilities of stem cells in the regeneration and therapeutic uses for the human condition it is becoming evidently apparent from research advancement that stem cell research in all its forms can yield medical science with great advancements in disease prevention, recession, injury therapies of many types and medical treatments unknown to all of the generations that have come before us.…

    • 2445 Words
    • 10 Pages
    Best Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Stem Cell Debate

    • 4026 Words
    • 17 Pages

    Few recent scientific issues have stimulated so much media attention, public debate and government involvement as that of stem cell research. Stem cells offer people hope by promising to greatly extend the number and range of patients who could benefit from transplants, and to provide novel therapies to treat debilitating diseases such as diabetes, Parkinson's, Huntington's, heart disease and stroke, as well as accidental damage such as spinal cord injury. So why would anyone object to research in this area? The problem is simply that a particular type of stem cell, which potentially could provide many cell types for a wide range of therapeutic uses, is obtained from the very early embryo. To make matters even more contentious, the same cloning technology that gave Dolly the sheep could in theory be used to tailor stem cells to the patient. Some people worry that we are taking research too far down paths that make them feel uncomfortable, others think it is downright immoral and against their deep-held, often religious, beliefs. But what are the scientific issues and why do many of us feel equally passionate that the research should be allowed?…

    • 4026 Words
    • 17 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Although there is no doubt that certain diseases could be treated if this therapy is successful, there are contrasting viewpoints concerning the issue. Currently, scientists all over the nation are struggling to gain clearance to experiment with embryonic stem cells. On one side arguers say that embryonic stem cell research is morally acceptable because any therapy that can lead to curing serious diseases is beneficial to the common good. They argue that embryonic stem cells are not yet individuals therefore they have no soul and no rights to speak of. Even the arguers that believe stem cells could possibly be considered individuals, would say that such a small sacrifice would be worth the advances at stake. They say that if such a leap can be made in medicine, then it is the scientists ' and doctors ' duty to do everything in their power to make people well. Advocates of stem cell research would argue that it would be unethical not to proceed with this research. For every advocate of stem cell research there is an…

    • 2842 Words
    • 12 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    The discovery, isolation, and culturing of human embryonic stem cells has been described as one of the most significant breakthroughs in biomedicine…

    • 2608 Words
    • 11 Pages
    Powerful Essays

Related Topics