The public cheerleading of Varmus and others, without a doubt, helped make stem cells a household word and set a high (and unrealistic) expectation that therapies for a host of debilitating cell-based diseases were just around the corner." (Five Years Later, Stem Cells Still Tantalize) Introduction This report will define and provide some current and historical insights into stem cell research and technology and how that research affects the United States social, political and religious belief structures
Even though non-embryonic-stem-cell technology is already years ahead of ES work in terms of experimentation and application, recently it has exploded like a thermo baric bomb." (Fumento) Politically, embryonic stem cell research is too touchy a subject to get much support from either republicans or democrats
"He found it immoral to destroy a human embryo to create stem cell lines yet in the case where there's a human who's committed a heinous crime, he'll take their life," Trosko said, referring to Bush's capital punishment record as governor of Texas." (Hughes) They have agreed to allow existing fertilized eggs to be used for research but have said no to any new sources of fertilized eggs
S. Congress authored and passed a bill that would in effect discard Bush's executive order; but the president vetoed the legislation, saying that he would not "…support the taking of innocent human life in the hope of finding medical benefits for others" (Babington, 2006)
What are Embryonic Stem Cells? "Among stem cells, human embryonic stem (hE's) cells are considered to have the greatest potential for biomedical and clinical research," writes professor Joanna Hanley in the British Journal of Haematology. The reason hE's cells have so much potentiality, Hanley and colleagues explain, is that they are capable of "unlimited self-renewal" and they have the capacity to "differentiate into all somatic cell types" in the human body (Hanley, 2010, p
In the Introduction to this paper, it was stated that most of those objecting to the use of embryonic stem cells in this research are conservative or members of conservative Christian faiths. It is worth mentioning that a recent study by the American Sociological Review (released March 29, 2012) points out that "…trust in science among conservatives and frequent churchgoers has declined precipitously since 1974" (Hoeffel, 2012)
Professor Insoo Hyun boils the main arguments against the use of embryonic stem cell down to two positions. One, he posits that since the beginning of embryonic stem cell research (ESCr), the movement has "…tapped into underlying dystopian fears about human cloning, the commodification of human biological material, the missing of human and animal species, and the hubristic quest for regenerative immortality" (Hyun, 2010, p
Because there are good reasons for trying to cure diseases and because human embryonic stem cell research promises markedly better treatments of disease than are currently available, the case for pursuing human embryonic stem cell research seems overwhelming…." (Marquis, 2007, p
191). Meanwhile, Jeff McMahan writes in the journal Metaphilosophy that the main objection to the use of human embryos is because they are viewed as "…essentially beings of the same sort that you and I are" and hence, using embryonic stem cells for research is "killing" humans (McMahan, 2007, p
Meanwhile Dr. Stephen Napier of the National Catholics Bioethics Center in Philadelphia contends that "battle lines" in the ongoing debate about using embryonic stem cells in research have been drawn around "metaphysical questions" like, "What is an embryo?" And "Am I the same thing as my embryo?" (Napier, 2009, p
The National Institutes of Health Resource for Stem Cell Research. (2012)
224). The American Presidency Project explains that embryonic stem cells are retrieved from the "inner cell mass of a human embryo" and those cells have the potential to "develop into all or nearly all of the tissues in the body… [and this is called] pluripotentiality" (Woolley, et al
There are two opposing viewpoints when it comes to stem cell research. The strongest opposition is the use of embryonic stem cells for research (Cahill, 2001)
There are many legal and ethical questions that surround stem cell research. Whether or not it should be legal is a major concern of some people (Friedrich, 2000)
Many supporters believe research should be allowed to continue on embryonic stem cells, and that they should be able to be created for the sole purpose of research. In stem cell research, embryonic cells are used (Moran, 2003)
However, state funds are the wrong way to go about funding this research, as the responsibility for funding falls to taxpayers. To fund the initiative, the state will sell up to $3 billion in general obligation bonds (Somers, 2004)
Embryonic Stem Cell Research In November 1998, two research groups independently announced that they had isolated human stem cells from embryonic tissues, had cultivated the cells, and shown these cells could develop into all three basic layers of cells in the human embryo (Lysaught 1999)
Other possibilities include "the treatment of spinal cord injury, stroke, burns, arthritis, muscular dystrophy, kidney disease, liver disease, and macular degeneration" (Lysaught 1999). Embryonic stem cells form at a very early stage in human development and remain in an undifferentiated state for a brief period (Wright 1999)
These cells are considered to be totipotent because they rise to a complete individual, and when the inner cell mass cells are cultured in a dish, they are called embryonic stem cells (Wright 1999). Up until the formation of the primitive streak, which will develop into the spinal cord, and cell differentiation, which occurs about fourteen days after fertilization, the developing embryo can cleave naturally or artificially, resulting in the production of identical siblings, therefore, embryonic cells that are still part of the inner cell mass are described as totipotent because they can give rise to new organisms (McCartney 2002)
The 2003 Hastings Case Report discussed several issues concerning stem cell research. One concern pointed out was that for biological reasons alone, stem cell-based therapies might not be available for every patient who could benefit, and depending on how the issue is addressed, might ultimately benefit primarily white Americans (Gearhart 2003)