Stem Cell Research?

Question

I don't know anythign about it. Why are there so many people against it? Wjat are the risks and benefits? Thanks a bunch

Answer 1

A stem cell is a primitive type of cell that can be coaxed into developing into most of the 220 types of cells found in the human body (e.g. blood cells, heart cells, brain cells, etc). Some researchers regard them as offering the greatest potential for the alleviation of human suffering since the development of antibiotics. Over 100 million Americans and two billion other humans worldwide suffer from diseases that may eventually be treated more effectively with stem cells or even cured. These include heart disease, diabetes, and certain types of cancer.

Stem cells can be extracted from very young human embryos -- typically from surplus frozen embryos left over from in-vitro fertilization (IVF) procedures at fertility clinics. A couple undergoing IVF is faced with four alternatives for their 16 or so surplus embryos:

Have them discarded.
Donate the embryos to another infertile couple in what is sometimes called "embryo adoption.".
Donate the embryos for research
Have the embryos preserved at very low temperatures.

There are very few parents willing to give their embryos to another couple for a variety of emotional reasons. There are very few couples willing to receive them for emotional reasons and because thawed embryos have such a low chance of starting a pregnancy. Preservation can be expensive. So most ask that they be discarded.

There are currently hundreds of thousands of surplus embryos in storage. One source estimated that there were 400,000 stored embryos by mid-2003. 4 However, a minority of pro-lifers and a majority of pro-life organizations object to the use of embryos in research. They feel that a few-days-old embryo is a human person. Extracting its stem cells kills the embryo -- an act that they consider to be murder. Stem cells can now be grown in the laboratory, so (in a pinch) some research can be done using existing stem cells. No further harvesting needs to be made from embryos. However, existing stem cell lines are gradually degrading and will soon be useless for research.

Stem cells can also be extracted from adult tissue, without harm to the subject. Unfortunately, they are difficult to remove and are severely limited in quantity. There has been a consensus among researchers that adult stem cells are limited in usefulness -- that they can be used to produce only a few of the 220 types of cells in the human body. However, some evidence is emerging that indicates that adult cells may be more flexible than has previously been believed.

Research using embryo stem cells had been authorized in Britain, but was initially halted in the U.S. by President George W. Bush. He decided on 2001-AUG-9 to allow research to resume in government labs, but restricted researchers to use only 72 existing lines of stem cells. By 2003-MAY, most of these lines had become useless. Only 22 remained in mid-2006, and many of them were of limited usefulness because of DNA damage.

Research continues in U.S. private labs and in both government and private labs in the UK, Japan, France, Australia, and other countries. On 2002-SEP, Governor Davis of California signed bill SB 253 into law. It is the first law in the U.S. that permits stem cell research. Davis simultaneously signed a bill that permanently bans all human cloning in the state for reproduction purposes -- i.e. any effort to create a cloned individual.

Following former president Ronald Reagan's death due to Alzheimer's in 2004-JUN -- a slow, lingering disease that took a decade to kill him -- Nancy Reagan and all of her family, except for Michael Reagan, mounted a campaign to encourage President Bush to relax restrictions on embryo stem cell research. Fifty-eight senators, almost all Democrats, sent a letter to President Bush, urging the same action.

A federal bill passed the House on 2005-MAY-24 to allow government funded research on embryonic stem cells extracted from surplus embryos in fertility clinics. It is expected to be voted upon by the Senate in 2006-JUL. President Bush has promised to veto it.

Answer 2

Stem Cells are the most basic and fundamental cells, that literally can be turned into anything else. They mostly appear early on after fertilization which is why they need embryos. Since they can become any other body cell, they potentially offer treatments or cures for many types of diseases, like Diabetes, Parkinsons, various cancer's etc.

Some people, generally of a fundamentalist christian perspective, are opposed because in their belief system, human life starts at conception, and they equate destruction of the embryo with murder.

Other people would say that the blastocyst is just a collection of cells that in the case of stored embryos, if they aren't implanted in a female, will never become anything except go into a garbage can eventually, so why not make use of them.

Answer 3

Nobody sane or reality-based is against stem-cell research. The only people who are against it are religious nut-bags, who hate science and have a knee-jerk reaction. President Bush doesn't even understand what it is, and thinks that a bunch of goo is a person, while there are actual REAL PEOPLE who are suffering who could be helped by stem-cell research.
America is pretty much the only wealthy, first-world, industrialized nation that feels this way about Stem-Cell Research, because we are the only first world, wealthy country that has so many crazy religious crazies. GOD BLESS AMERICA!

Answer 4

Abortion might want to correctly be legal even with the indisputable fact that that's incorrect and evil and outright homicide to an harmless unborn newborn. imagine about it that kid will not in any respect see daylight hours or snigger or journey a motorbike or take excitement in having friends or understand the love of a figure. This unborn newborn will not in any respect understand the failings that we take with none interest in our well-known lifes. Plus that kid is torn to products in the course of the abortion it quite is between the procedures that's killed ripped limb from limb. So therefore i imagine stem cellular research is inaccurate also. even with each and every thing you've already brought with regard to the unborn toddler a lot misery and soreness and brought that's existence from it so a minimum of leave their undesirable bodies on my own. Abortion and Stem cellular research are in simple terms yet another easily one of mankind's vile and cruel and evil issues. I pray that God may have mercy on all of those who get abortions and performance had abortions. i'm satisfied that those undesirable toddlers will stay with him and heaven forever. i'd no longer make it there myself who knows yet a minimum of they could. in simple terms so that you understand no newborn is an coincidence all of them come right here with a purpose yet some not in any respect have the risk to fulfill there purpose via cruelty of mankind. in some unspecified time sooner or later it is going to come to bypass that we may be able to ought to account for the failings we've performed and presented that we are quite sorry and regretful for those things can we be forgiven. i understand that there are some who will see this otherwise than me which consists of atheist and human beings of non-christian or maybe some christian religions even with the indisputable fact that it quite is high quality in the right of time it may come to bypass that what i believe is inaccurate yet i do not care because i'm chuffed for now. properly there you've my opinion.

Answer 5

the controversy is about abortion and when life begins. if it is ok to use embryo stem cells then it calls into question the neoconservative christian view of abortion.
just my opinion