The Scoop on Stem Cell Research

Written by #13

Stem cells are cells found in multicellular organisms and they have the potential to regenerate new tissue over a person’s life span. Stem cells are harvested and then made into different cells like nerve cells or blood cells. There are a few kinds of stem cells but the two main types are embryonic stem cells and adult stem cells. Embryonic stem cells can be made into 220 different types of cells found in the human body including brain cells, blood cells and nerve cells. They are harvested from human embryos and it causes the embryo to die. Adult stem cells are found in adult tissue and they are used to repair the body’s different cells. Sometimes they can be taken from the person who will be receiving them and in this case the person doesn’t have to fear the risk of rejection.

The pros of stem cell research are infinite. They are currently used for bone marrow transplants and that is the only thing that stem cell use has been approved for so far. In the near future, stem cells could be used for disease and conditions such as stroke, baldness, muscular dystrophy, diabetes, cancer and even missing teeth.

There seems to be only one major con to stem cell research and it is based on ethical principals. It is debatable as to whether embryonic stem cell research is killing human life. People who argue on the pro-life side believe that since the embryo has the potential to be a human and it has all of the DNA needed to be a human, that it is a human and using it for researching that cause it to die is unethical and murder. Their point of view is that it is wrong to kill one life to save another. On the contrary many people believe that it is just information and since it is not in human form it is not a human. It is only being used to better society and save other peoples lives.

Ethics is the biggest setback when it comes to embryonic stem cell research. It is considered by some people to be a sin to kill a living person and it is debated in the case of embryonic stem cells whether the embryo is considered to be a living human being yet. The point at which a person is considered a human being is greatly debated. One point of view is to look at what the Bible has to say. Jeremiah 1:4-5a says, “The word of God came to me, saying “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart.” Other people believe that you are not a human being until after you are born. Adult stem cell research is not as great a cause for debate since a person or a potential life is not being killed.

No matter what your opinion on this subject is, it is clear that stem cell research has great potential but only if it is considered ethical. Personally, I believe that a person is considered a person at conception and I believe that killing an embryo is unethical. Another thing that scares many people is that stem cell research may lead to human clones.



Scolari S. WiseGeek What are Stem Cells? 2010-03-07 http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-stem-cell-research.htm


Robinson B.A. Morality; controversial topics Stem cell research: All viewpoints
2010-03-07 http://www.religioustolerance.org/res_stem.htm


Wikipedia Stem Cell 2010-03-07 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stem_cell


Got Question Ministries What should a Christian’s view be on stem cell research
2010-03-07 http://www.gotquestions.org/Christian-stem-cell-research.html