Anne 703 3/31/14 Imagine if Parkinson's disease, cancer, diabetes, and every other disease could be cured.

This could be possible with the help of stem cells. Stem cells are unspecialized cells that can differentiate into specialized cells, and can replicate indefinitely. There are two major types of stem cells: embryonic and adult. Embryonic stem cells are found in the 3-5 day old embryo, called a blastocyst. They are pluripotent, meaning that they can turn into any type of cell and give rise to the entire body of the organism (National Institutes of Health). Adult stem cells, also called somatic stem cells, are multipotent, which means that they can turn into several, not all, cell types. They maintain and repair the tissue they are found in. There is also a third type of stem cell: the induced pluripotent stem cell (IPSC). These are adult cells that have been reprogrammed back to being stem cells. Stem cells are a developing field of study, and new discoveries are being made. There are ethical issues about embryonic stem cell research. Embryonic stem cells come from a human embryo. When the embryonic stem cells are taken from a blastocyst, the embryo dies. To some people, this is the equal of killing the person the embryo would have become. Another thing is that when scientists do an experiment to see if stem cells can be used to cure diseases, they intentionally injure mice to try to cure them. This brings unnecessary pain and suffering to the mice. This raises the question of whether the research is worth it. Advances in stem cell research could help many people. Since stem cells can replicate indefinitely, they would be useful in research because scientists wouldnt have to constantly get new cells. Stem cells can be used to study how diseases occur and how to prevent and treat them.

This could save many peoples lives. Compared to the loss of the embryo, which might have survived to become a person, the benefits outweigh the ethical issues. My stand on embryonic stem cell research is that it is beneficial and should be allowed. Using stem cells, scientists can make breakthroughs in medicine, and lives can be saved. The embryos that provide the stem cells are not yet fully developed humans, so the removal of the stem cells cant be viewed as killing, but may benefit many people.

Bibliography

NIH Stem Cell Information Home Page. In Stem Cell Information [World Wide Web site]. Bethesda, MD: National Institutes of Health, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 2013 [cited Sunday, March 30, 2014] Available at <http://stemcells.nih.gov/Pages/Default.aspx>

Yee, Jiing-Kuan . "Turning Somatic Cells into Pluripotent Stem Cells." Nature.com. Nature Publishing Group, n.d. Web. 30 Mar. 2014. <http://www.nature.com/scitable/topicpage/turning-somatic-cells-into-pluripotent-stem-cells-14431451>.

"Embryonic stem cell research: an ethical dilemma." EuroStemCell. European Commision, n.d. Web. 30 Mar. 2014. <http://www.eurostemcell.org/factsheet/embyronic-stem-cell-research-ethical-dilemma>.