Pros And Cons Of Medical Ethics

Embryonic stem cell research is a highly debated and sensitive topic.  There is a lot of good that can come from researching this technology of stem cell research because many people all across the globe would benefit from it.  The United States will soon fall short while other countries are already using this advancement if we cannot come to a logical conclusion on this vital issue.

According to Dr. David Prentice, Ph.D., “newer technologies exist that allow creation of identical embryonic type stem cells without the use of embryos.” Dr. Prentice is arguing against using real-life embryos and would rather see the research be done on fake stem cells that

Stem cell research has been quite a controversial topic since its origin in the 1960s by Gopal Das and Joseph Altman. Of course, anything that uses a human embryo would be. Stem cell research could open a vast number of new doors for modern science, it could let us test new drugs, one of which could be the unfound cure for AIDS or Alzheimer’s disease. However, this branch of science comes at a high price, the price of a human life that is only five to six days

We know that many have made expansive claims for the benefits of human embryo research. However, all such claims are conjectural. Embryonic stem cell research has not helped a single human patient or demonstrated any therapeutic benefit. At the same time, adult stem cells have helped hundreds of thousands of patients and new

Embryonic stem cell research is a controversial topic nationwide, because of its clash of ethical and moral values. Many people, including those suffering from diseases that this research is seeking to cure, do not believe in killing a living embryo in order to advance research and science.

Stem cells have become a subject of much interest and debate in politics, the scientific

Medical ethics is a system of morals and values that apply judgments to the practice of medicine.

In humans adult stem cells, not embryonic stem cells, have been used in therapies for more than forty years. People with blood disorders have used stem cell therapy to take the opportunity to improve upon their life. On the other hand, embryonic stem cells have a very high potential to treat or even cure numerous diseases like diabetes and heart disease. They are much more versatile in their usage compared to adult stem cells. Another practical use for embryonic stem cells is to treat damaged nerves ("Testing The Use…”). These nerves could have been impaired in a spinal cord injury. As of today, scientists have already performed stem cell transplants in people whose cells were damaged through chemotherapy of disease.

Using various academic journals and articles found online (Internet), this paper seeks to cover the use of human stem cells (hSCs) in research for disease modeling and drug development.

Embryonic stem cell research and use is a scientific advancement that could change medical history. There are two types of stem cell research, adult stem cells, and embryonic stem cells. Embryonic stem cells receive a very negative connotation in society, and there are many misconceptions about the process and the ethics of embryonic stem cell research. A large majority of society immediately assume that it is the use of aborted embryos because of the word embryonic, and adult stem cells are not as effective as embryonic. However, this is not the case. Embryonic stem cell research is in progress to help cure and reduce the effects of very fatal and harmful diseases that take many of societies precious lives. If research continues to

K. H., Ph.D. (n.d.). Ten Problems with Embryonic Stem Cell Research. Retrieved April 28, 2016, from

Stem cells are grown on Petri dishes in a laboratory and are never implanted in a woman’s uterus. These cells can be used to create stem cell lines that can grow indefinitely under optimal conditions (“Stem cells and diseases,” 2011). Embryonic stem cells can be obtained from existing stem cell lines (any group of cells that came from the same original embryo), aborted or miscarried embryos, unused in vitro fertilized embryos, and cloned embryos created from somatic cell nuclear transfer (the nucleus from an unfertilized egg is removed and replaced with a nucleus from an adult stem cell). This technique would be used for therapeutic cloning, which could grow organs or skin grafts for patients. However, the only research that is federally funded are a few embryonic stem cell lines created from unused embryos at in vitro fertilization (IVF) clinics before 2001 (Dunn, 2005; “Embryonic & fetal research laws,” 2008; Therapeutic cloning, 2009). These lines are not enough to allow scientists to fully explore and take advantage of potential findings.

The groundbreaking scientific research underway happening this century is revolving around the field of regenerative medicine, specifically stem cell research. To begin to discuss whether or not stem cell research should be scientifically funded we must understand what stem cells are. According to Jordan Saltzberg, author of “The Current Embryonic Stem Cell Research Federal Funding Policy,” embryonic stem cells have the possibility to reproduce and continue to grow and also form any type of specialized cell unlike adult stem cells (2). Since the embryonic stem cells (hESCs) can form any specialized cell they are more valuable than adult stem cells (hASCs). Saltzberg has also stated, stem cells are present throughout a person 's life but are first found in the embryo (2). This shows that one day we may be able to use human adult stem cells instead of embryonic stem cells. Human embryonic stem cells are, for now, the most promising subfield of regenerative medicine. Stem cell research is debated by many different groups, for example the church, government, and everyday people. The majority of religions along with all of their followers believe the research to be unethical, whereas the government and scientific community think that it is vital for new scientific discoveries. Despite the

As modern medicine advances, new techniques such as regenerative medicine can be used to help aid in the treatment of diseases through the use of stem cells ("Stem cells: What they are and what they do" 1). The use of stem cells has been an ongoing debate between whether or not it is actually ethical to use embryonic stem cells, as well as if the embryo has any rights which should be protected. Since it is difficult to place a concrete definition on what exactly makes a person a person, this adds to the controversy surrounding stem cells. The central conflict that is faced when speaking about stem cells is whether or not using the research to help those suffering from diseases is worth using an embryo that possibly could have held life.

Contrarily, supporters of embryonic stem cell research argue that such research should be pursued because the resultant treatments could have significant medical potential. In addition, leftover embryos could be given with permission and