2006-09-05 09:10:47 · 4 answers · asked by mj45 2 in Science & Mathematics ➔ Biology
The controversy is not about whether or not they are harmful(although they're pretty close to cancer cells and could be harmful)
It's that to isolate embryonic stem cells....they must be harvested from an embryo.
Researchers have been using "adult" or somatic stem cells for decades. So far we've learned a lot but have not made considerable advances. It's thought that embryonic stem cells...which have not differentiated as much as somatic stem cells....may be used to cure things like disease and paralysis.
The embryos researchers want to use are destined for the garbage can anyways but the conservatives in government claim each embryo is a human life and cannot be used.
2006-09-05 09:18:31 · answer #1 · answered by Franklin 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Stem cells do not harm people. Both embryonic and adult stem cells are just beginning to be researched and both seem to hold a lot of hope for helpling people. The controversy is from how embryonic stem cells are gathered.
2006-09-05 16:19:53 · answer #2 · answered by lycaena_epixanthe 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
neither one of them harms people. but embryonic ones are the one that are creating all the controversy. adult stem cells seem fine with everyone -- except the ones doing the actual research, who find that they're not as good to work with.
2006-09-05 16:17:04 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
What the ppl. above me said is mostly true. But, embryonic stem cells are basically "babies" created, and then "killed" for thier parts. That is the controversy. People are arguing that human life should not be created just to be destroyed for testing purposes. Neither of them are harmful, very helpful to further understand our human bodies and the diseases and illness that plague us, but the question is....Where does ethics start, and science stop?
2006-09-05 16:59:44 · answer #4 · answered by Ca-C 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋