The Stem Cell Debate

Paper Summary:

This paper examines how one of the most controversial issues in health care today is the use of stem cells for medical research. It shows that, while stem cell research offers incredible possibilities for treating and curing illnesses and diseases like Parkinson's and Alzheimer's, stroke, spinal cord injury, heart disease and diabetes, it also poses highly controversial issues, originating mainly from how these stem cells are obtained. It looks at how the best known source of stem cells is human fetal tissue and how harvesting the stem cells destroys the embryo, which is something that many see as morally and ethically wrong. It explores the topic of stem cell research in an effort to determine how the debate could best be resolved.

From the Paper:

"Embryonic stem cells are considered the most useful in research because they can become any type of cell, while adult stem cells are more limited. There is no controversy revolving around the use of human adult stem cells in research, since they can be retrieved from the individual requiring the therapy. Since embryonic stem cells derive from the inner cell mass of the early embryo, they are capable of forming all the tissues of the body. But there is much controversy over the use of embryonic stem cells."

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