The Debate Over Stem Cell Research - 1685 Words

While the use of stem cells can offer a lot to the scientific community, the derivation of stem cells from embryos is ethically unacceptable; and the use of stem cells in humans should be completely prohibited. Since the first research on embryo stem cells in 1998 on mice the controversy has been relentless (Timeline), and even now, scientists have made great strides in waning off of embryonic stem cells and instead using induced pluripotent stem cells from adults, however these have their issues as well. Whatever the benefits may be, using stem cells to propagate differentiated human cells, tissues, or organs should be prohibited. The government has been addressing this issue since the arise of stem cell research. There are many†¦show more content†¦The two big issues that arise with this research is the way the stem cells are acquired, and what researchers do with the information gathered once it is acquired. According to an article by The Center for Bioethics Human Dign ity called â€Å"An Overview of Stem Cell Research†, â€Å"Human embryonic stem cells are the cells from which all 200+ kinds of tissue in the human body originate. Typically, they are derived from human embryos-often those from fertility clinics who are left over from assisted reproduction attempts. When stem cells are obtained from living human embryos, the harvesting of such cells necessitates destruction of the embryos.†(An Overview of Stem Cell Research). So basically, to acquire these stem cells which have the benefits of improving others lives, you must take away a potential life. The same article by explorable.com says â€Å"A life is a life and that should never be compromised. A fertilized egg should be valued as a human life even if it is in its very first weeks. Destroying human life in the hopes of saving human life is not ethical.†(explorable.com). The main problem with embryonic stem cell use is the ethical issues that come with it. But, one who t akes embryonic stem cells into their body must be on medicine to prevent rejection for the rest of their life, which can be extremely cost. Moving on, the not-so-unethical alternatives also have their plentiful of issues. According to John Hopkins medicine, in 2007 US