Stem Cell Research Pros And Cons

by Darren

The issue of stem cell research pros and cons is timely, due to recent decisions by the administration of President Barack Obama of the United States. President Obama has called for the immediate lifting of a ban on embryonic stem cell research that had been imposed by his predecessor George W. Bush. Obama has decided that the benefits of stem cell research outweigh the drawbacks.

Scientists immediately cheered the Obama decision. Researchers have been making due without federal funds, a factor that has made research difficult.

“It’s wonderful. We are elated,” Jan Nolta of the University of California at Davis said. “Now that we can use the federal funds, it will just go so much more quickly.”

Now that research using embryonic cells can receive federal funding, the debate concerning the ethics of such research will likely intensify.

A few distinctions should be made concerning stem cell research

A distinction should quickly be made concerning embryonic stem cells and adult stem cells. Adult stem cell research upsets few, and has been effectively used for years. Embryonic stem cell research has drawn the ire of religious conservatives who strongly believe that life begins at conception.

Cons of stem cell research

1. Embryonic stem cell research results in the destruction of embryonic life. Even this objection has already been theoretically answered. In August 2005, Harvard University scientists announced a break-through discovery that fuses “blank” embryonic stem cells with adult skin cells, rather than with fertilized embryos, to create all-purpose stem cells viable to treat diseases and disabilities. This discovery doesn’t result in the death of fertilized human embryos, and thus would effectively respond to pro-life objections to embryonic stem cell research and therapy. Harvard researchers warned that it could take up to ten years to perfect this highly promising process.

* Note: Adult embryonic stem cell research have the same disadvantage. No life is lost in the procurement of adult stem cells.

Pros of stem cell research

1. Removing the ban on the federal funding of stem cell research will have enormous positive economic benefits for several US industries. Federal funds will push research much farther much faster.
2. Many fertility clinics already dispose of fetuses as medical waste, with no benefit to research or society. Some argue that since the fetuses are already being wasted, the “material” could be used to help others.
3. Stem cell research holds what has been described as “limitless potential” for medical research.

For Obama, the opportunity to fund research that could result in new cures for old conditions, as well as the chance to ramp up the economy with a flood of investment in biotechnology companies was too strong a lure to resist.

It also gave him a chance to reverse an unpopular decision made by former President George W. Bush. Several studies showed that the majority of Americans, despite some religious objections, are supportive of embryonic stem cell research. The United States, due to the ban on federal funding of research, currently lags behind several other countries in the study of stem cells. With this new push, that gap could quickly be narrowed.

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