stem cell research?

Question

what exactly is this.
and if you could, but it in simple words please.
:]

i have to "take a stand" and tell my opinion about it.

help?

Answer 1

Human umbilical-cord stem cells have demonstrated great efficacy in promoting the healing of many conditions. In the last decade or so, pure cord-blood stem cells have been used by physicians to treat a multitude of intractable diseases such as progressive multiple sclerosis, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, certain degenerative eye disorders, stroke, diabetes, and various forms of heart disease. While certainly no cure all, umbilical-cord stem cell therapy appears to be amassing a respectable track record in terms of both safety and clinical utility.

Answer 2

For the purposes of this answer, I am referring only to embryonic stem cells.

Stem cell research is when scientists study cells that haven't yet "decided" what kind of cells they will become. Since they haven't decided yet, they still have the ability to become any kind of cell in the human body. Nerve cells, muscle cells, pancreatic cells, etc. arise from these cells. Unfortunately (depending on who you are), the only source of these cells is a human embryo. Many embryos, though, exist in deep freeze around the world in fertility clinics, where men and women who can't naturally have children have their sperm and eggs combined to create embryos. Often, once this couple does have a child, they no longer care what happens to these embryos...they are destined to be thrown away, or stay frozen forever. Scientists have pointed out this possible source of embryos, but many people feel this is a form of abortion - that it is murdering a child. These people also feel that using stem cells, derived from embryos, to cure disease is wrong because it preys on the lives' of these embryos. It sort of related back to the abortion debate.

It should be pointed out that, while stem cell research is promising, it has yet to provide any curative therapies (though some experimental treatments with liver and heart disease have been AMAZING). However, one might argue that no big advances have been made because funding isn't available for the necessary research.

I hope this has helped you...I tried my very best to be objective. Good luck! Choose wisely, someday you might be asked to vote on this issue!

Answer 3

Very Important things to know!! #5 is the most important one of all! Sources listed at bottom.

1) embryos that are used are only a few days old, and only have about one hundred cells, Compare that to the trillions of cells in the human body, and it doesn’t seem like much of anything. These embryos are a hollow ball of cells, not an actual human being. These embryos are far from becoming anything remotely like a human, and they are in a very early stage of development, even for an embryo.

2)Another point is the embryos being used for stem cell research are ones that are going to be thrown out anyway by fertility clinics who don’t need them, and stem cells are used only with the permission of the donator.

3) While adult and cord stem cell research is much less controversial, they do not produce as many different types of cells as embryonic research. There is also not as many stem cells found in each tissue as there are in embryonic research.

4)Some people care about rescuing embryos because they believe they will develop into human life, but why are they not as concerned about the people who are already in this world? Isn’t it more important to help those who have illnesses that could kill them, then it is to salvage embryos that are going to be thrown out and not become human anyway?Why would anyone say to people who have disabilities that they will have to wait for a cure, because saving embryos is more important than saving their lives? Obviously someone who would say that has some very messed up beliefs.

5)President Bush has repeatedly said to “stay the course” with the war in Iraq. At the same time, President Bush rejects stem cell research because, as it states in the article Stem Cells: the Hope and the Hype, he “argue(s) that you can’t destroy life in order to save it”. If he does believe this, then why does he support the war in Iraq when so many are being killed? He thinks that these issues are very different, but by going to war, aren’t people killing others in order to save their nation’s people? As Sonia Ryang asks in her article Does it have to be hESC? “Why… should we be concerned about killing a substance whose status as a human person is inconclusive to say the least, while we kill… thousands of those that are firmly established as humans?” How can it be o.k. to let people die and not o.k. to use embryos that could possibly heal people with problems? It seems like to think the war is good and stem cell research is bad because of killing embryos is hypocritical.

Sources:

Gibbs, Nancy. “Stem Cells: the Hope and the Hype.” ebscohost.com 12 October 2006

http://web.ebscohost.com/ehost/detail?vid=8&hid=115&sid=dc8255d8-5d53-4726-9cac-8a0a8574125f%40sessionmgr104

Ryang, Sonia. “Does it Have to be hESC?” ebscohost.com 20 October 2006
http://web.ebscohost.com/ehost/detail?vid=17&hid=115&sid=dc8255d8-5d53-4726-9cac-8a0a8574125f%40sessionmgr104