Stem Cell Research and ethical issues Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

Stem Cell Research and ethical issues - Essay Example Ethical issues are those that ask us to consider the potential moral outcomes of stem cell technologies, Legal issues require researchers and the public to help policymakers decide whether and how stem cell technologies should be regulated by the government and Social issues involve the impact of stem cell technologies on society as a whole. While stem cells can be derived from aborted fetuses and even adults, the best source for stem cells is the small clump of cells that compose the early zygote only a few days following conception. 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. Therefore, to best investigate the latent possibilities inherent in stem cells, scientists prefer to choose the approximately 100,000 "excess" frozen pre-embryos that are "left over" from earlier IVF attempts. Now, the question arises whether it is ethical to allow the destruction of pre-embryos to obtain stem cells for research that may some day save thousands of lives Whether life for those already existing should be improved at the seeming expense of a possible human life that has just come into being While many ethical issues arise, the key one is whether pre-embryos are included in the prohibition of abortion. T he consensus thus far is that it an embryo is not protected by the limitations on abortion until it is implanted in a woman. Nevertheless, many Rabbis oppose the deliberate creation of pre-embryos for the purpose of their destruction, as this would cheapen the value of human life. The halachic process offers fascinating insight into all areas of ethics, including biomedical ethics. Early stem cells have the ability to differentiate into every cell of the human body, potentially forming an entire fetus. However, by manipulating the conditions and controlling cellular differentiation, research has been able create replacement cells and organs, potentially curing illnesses such as diabetes, Alzheimer's disease, and Parkinson's disease. 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. The ultimate promise of stem cell technology would be to combine it with cloning. Take for instance, a patient dying of liver failure whose cell is cloned. Instead of allowing a cloned cell to develop into a fetus, it could be subjected to conditions where it would differentiate into a genetically identical liver. If this liver is allowed to "grow" to maturity, we could offer the patient a liver transplant without the risk of rejection and without the need for anti-rejection drugs. Those who believe that human life begins at conception-and who also regard activated eggs as morally equivalent to human embryos-cannot ethically approve therapeutic