Ethical Issues of Stem cell research

ETHICAL ISSUES OF STEM CELL RESEARCH

Introduction

Stem cell research remains to be one of the most important scientific breakthrough but also one of the most controversial issues in the world Stem cell research burst into limelight in 1998 when researchers clarified that they had isolated the human embryonic stem cells . This was one of the discoveries that gave a promise to the treatment of many diseases . Scientist have bee looking forward to the development of the technology in to come up with new ways of repairing damaged body cells . However

there are various ethics issues which have limited the development of the stem cell research

Stem cell research technology

Stem cell research was first discovered by Dr . James Thompson who is a biologist in 1998 . The technology which showed that there was a possibility of treating a number of diseases was great promise to the world of medicine which has been severely challenged by the emerging disease . The basic concept of the research was that the cells could be derived from several-day-old embryo . These cells could then differentiate into any type of human cells ranging from the blood cells to skin cells . Scientist then started looking for the way these cells could be used to treat diseases and repair the damaged body tissues

Ethical dispute

The development of the stem cell research in the United States has not only been hampered by lack of government funding but also by the ethical issues surrounding the technology . There have been opponents of the technology who argue that it contradicts the biological and ethical nature of human life

The dispute on the stem cell research has taken several dimensions notable with the infusion of moral , religious and scientific arguments The proponents of the research argue that in the natural process of fertilization a human egg can be fertilized and fail to implant and therefore it cannot be considered to be a human . Therefore it holds the potential to become a human but only when it is implanted

The opponents of the research hold to the notion that human life begins immediately after fertilization or the egg . Therefore they considered human embryo to be a human being also . These opponent hold that any research or any technology which leads to the destruction of the human embryo is therefore morally abhorrent since it amounts to taking the life of that human being . Other opponents hold that the research carried out on stem cells which are obtained from adults is just a move that will render hESC redundant and therefore not necessary

It has also been argued that there are a lot of eggs which are discarded in the course of fertility treatment in vitro fertilization in health clinics . Therefore such embryos can be used in stem cell research for life-saving biomedical research process according to proponent . However opponents argue that even the use of such cells should condone the destruction of human embryos and human life

Conclusion

Although stem cell research offers great...