Contemporary (6)

Stem Cell Research in the Media

No scientific and healthcare issue has ever been the subject of much debate in recent years than embryonic stem cell research . The promise of this scientific innovation is the use of the stem cell - an undifferentiated cell found in the human embryo - which may develop into all of the specialized embryonic tissues , all of which may potentially create presently unfound cures for leukemia , cancer , Parkinson 's disease , spinal cord injuries , Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis , multiple sclerosis , and muscle damage , amongst a number of other impairments and

conditions (Lindvall , 2003 ) Recently , President Barack Obama lifted the ban of the former Bush administration on federal funding for stem-cell research , and it has received a flurry of media reports and opinion-editorials utterly unrelated to the objective scientific benefits of stem-cell research but on the moral implications of such research . Popular radio commentator Glenn Beck on the 9th of March declared that stem cell research would start the search for a new master race ' the revival of Eugenics , and the reincarnation of the Nazi 's final solution (Powers , 2009 ) Dr . Manny Alvarez of the Fox News Blog , meanwhile stated that funding stem cell-research may lead to more abortions (Alvarez , 2009 ) The trouble with media reporting like these is that these reports deviate fully from the scientific evidence which stem-cell research provides , and hides in the veil of moralist and ethical discourse . Instead of giving the benefit of the doubt to our American scientists who have provided much lifelong scientific...