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At one time an umbilical cord was considered medical waste. However, according to the Texas Cord Blood bank, more than 8,000 people have received umbilical cord stem cell transplants. This type of stem cell has the potential to be any cell in the body, and offers less rejection for a recipient that needs a bone marrow or stem cell transplant. Information such as this makes umbilical cord research more necessary and Americans should demand that more research be done. One umbilical cord from a single birth provides up to one million stem cells (Greear, 2003). This is enough to treat a child or small adult, and it provides a more effective and less painful way to treat many diseases including certain types of cancer (Greear, 2003).
There are many types of transplants and research of which people are aware that happen every day. Some of these transplants include the heart, liver and eyes. One type of research that many people are aware of is breast cancer. Another area of research is blood transfusions. Without this vital research, would scientists have ever figured out that someone else’s blood could save a stranger’s life? Most people are well aware of blood transfusions and support the efforts that are being made to expand and improve it.
However, some kinds of stem cell research cause much controversy. This is due to the fact that some of the ways that scientist’s get stem cells are considered unethical. For instance, embryonic stem cells are probably the most talked about and familiar way to extract stem cells. This is considered by many to be cruel and damaging to the fetus. This makes society leery when they hear the words, “stem cell research”.
There is a way to extract stem cells and study them that is more acceptable to both government and religious groups, it is known as umbilical cord stem cell research. Umbilical cord stem cell research is considered by many to be still in its infancy (Umbilical cord stem, 2006). The umbilical...