Embryonic stem cells should be allowed because of the medical benefits they provide. They can be used to treat diseases such as Parkinson's disease, diabetes, traumatic spinal cord injury, Duchenne muscular dystrophy, heart disease, and even vision and hearing loss (nih.gov 2009). There is no problem in using them for medical purposes and it is not unethical to use them for this reason. Embryonic cells have the potential to save lives. Therefore, the use of embryonic cells overcomes ethical issues. Although many people argue that the use of embryonic stem cells is unethical, they are believed to have much greater developmental potential than adult stem cells (nih.gov 2009). Although stem cells are not taken from an embryo and are considered by many to be ethical, embryonic stem cells can become all types of cells in the body because they are pluripotent (nih.gov 2009). This means having the ability to transform into various types of cells in the body; they have much greater potential. To have an exact idea of what embryonic cells are, it is necessary to fully understand how they are recovered and how they are composed. Embryonic stem cells come from eggs that have been fertilized in vitro, which is an artificial environment outside the living organism, like a test tube. When fertilization is successful, the sperm head carrying the nucleus enters the egg. The egg dives first into two cells, then into four. With multiple divisions, a multicellular ball of cells known as a blastocyst is formed. Inside the blastocyst is a hollow sphere that contains embryonic stem cells that can be retrieved with a pipette, a small glass tube used to carry a measured volume of liquid, and transferred to a dish. Under certain conditions, the Embryonic Society for Stem Cell Research. 02 February 2005. Web. 03 February 2011.Shevde, Rupa. "How are stem cells used?" University of Wisconsin. 2010. Network. 02 February 2011. Stephens, Patrick. "Destroying embryos is not immoral | Ayn Rand, objectivism and individualism | The Atlas Society." The Atlas Society |. 3 April 2011. Web. 05 March 2011. Sumanas. "Human embryonic stem cells". Welcome to Sumanas, Inc. 2007. Web. 13 February 2011. Whittingtion, Mark. “Gun Skin Spray Heals Burns in Hours or Days – Yahoo! News.” Top current events news headlines from Yahoo! News. 03 February 2011. Web. 05 February 2011."Against research on embryonic stem cells." Embryonic stem cell research. December 7, 2010. Web. April 10, 2011. Hanna, Kathi E. "Genome.gov | Cloning/Embryonic Stem Cells." Genome.gov | National Human Genome Research Institute (NHGRI) - Homepage. April 2006. Web. 10 April. 2011.
tags