Is Stem Cell Research Good or Bad? - Argument for

906 Words4 Pages
Stem cells are unspecialised cells, meaning they can develop into any type of cell. We, as humans, start off as stem cells when fertilization has occurred and a zygote is formed. These stem cells are called embryonic stem cells and they can turn into any type of cell, which leads to our growth. As adults we also have stem cells, which are called adult stem cells. Although these cells are unspecialised they can only develop into a specific type of cell. A lot of research has been put into stem cells as we can remove them an embryo, and in theory use them to use them for: * Making new brain cells for people with Parkinson’s disease. * Rebuilding bones and cartilage * Repairing damaged immune systems * Making replacement heart valves Although this sounds very exciting, a lot of social and ethical issues have come about, due to the stem cells used for research coming from human embryos. As a result, the government has kept a close eye on the research being done. The main ethical issue is that many people, due to their religion or personal opinion believe that destroying human embryos is a form of murder. However many other people believe it is furthering our knowledge of science. I personally believe that scientific research is very important to our everyday lives, as it brings us new understandings and knowledge on how the world works. Although the opposite opinion of my own is very hard to justify as it is considered unnatural and wrong, I believe that the benefits for curing diseases and repairing important parts of the body, out way the negatives. Scientists have also begun looking at adult specialised cells, and figuring out how to make them unspecialised again so this ethical problem won’t be an issue anymore. We know that stem cells become specialised when certain genes in that cell are switched on. If we can figure out how to turn off these

More about Is Stem Cell Research Good or Bad? - Argument for

Open Document