Ethics of Stem Cell Research
Read on to know more about the various aspects surrounding the issue of stem cell research ethics...
Stem cell research has come into the limelight recently, because of the large scale questions being raised about the ethics involved. There are people who are all for it, and there are people against it.
But first, let us know what stem cells are all about.
In the human body, there are a variety of cells (220 types, to be exact) - blood cells, nerve cells, brain cells, tissue cells, bone cells etc. Many of these cells keep on developing within the human body at all times.
3 days after an ovary is fertilized, the embryo is at the 'blastocyst' stage. These embryos are also referred to as 'pre-embryos'. This means, that these embryos do not have a brain, heart, lungs, internal organs etc. They also do not possess any awareness, or senses, or thought processes.
Now, research has been able to isolate those cells present within these 'pre-embryos' which will eventually become one of the 220 types of cells within the body. Call them a basic template cell, if you will. Upon being nudged into the right direction, the stem cell can grow to become a liver, a lung, a heart or a nerve cell. Literally, the possibilities are endless.
This means that people suffering from various diseases could find cures. Those patients who undergo organ transplants need not take drugs to avoid the rejection of the transplant. They need not wait endlessly for a transplant either. They can simply have the organ grow back. There can be a cure for broken bones, brain damage, spinal cord injuries, burns to the skin, cancer, diabetes, heart disease, leukemia, muscular diseases, Parkinson's disease etc. Actually, the list is quite vast.
But this process has come under the scanner due to the ethics around the process of extracting the stem cells. The main basis being that when the stem cells are being extracted from the 'pre-embryo', the embryo needs to be discarded because it has now become useless. Many pro-lifers and religious groups oppose this part of stem cell research. They claim that the 'pre-embryo' is a potential human being. Some claim that this 'pre-embryo' has a soul. They see this type of experimentation as a murder and liken it to the Nazi-type of medical experimentation on human beings.
Another aspect of the ethics of stem cell research that has come under the scanner is regarding those stem cell lines which were already developed in the past, before the controversy arose. The question is whether government funding for these projects should continue.
Stem cell research ethics are being questioned not just because of religious opposition, but because of the fact that many of these embryos were part of the surplus embryos in government labs. Some also say that stem cell research is the first step towards cloning, which is again another controversial subject.
Taking all this into account, several alternative options are also being examined by researchers. They are looking at adult stem cell research. However, this research is purportedly quite limiting. This is because these adult cells have already decided which of the 220 types they belong to. Therefore, researchers cannot do much with these cells.
Researchers are also considering the use of legally aborted fetuses for the use of stem cell research.
Another option that is being considered is the presence of stem cells within the umbilical cords of babies. Nowadays, these umbilical cords are being stored and used to further stem cell research.
| By Madhavi Ghare Published: 10/7/2007 |
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