Please tell me what you think:
There has been much controversy lately about stem cell research. But what is stem cell research? Stem cell research is a highly advanced technique by which humans can potentially cure several diseases, and fix injuries and birth defects. A stem cell is like a blank microchip. You can program it to be whatever you want it to be and then inject it into the human body. Three types of stem cells exist: The adult cell, the umbilical cell, and the embryonic cell. The first two types of stem cells can be obtained easily: adult cells come from either the bone marrow or the peripheral system, and umbilical cells come from the umbilical cord. Both have their uses, but scientists have discovered that embryonic stem cells have the most uses because they are pluripotent: they can turn into any type of cell at all, while the others cannot. Unfortunately, the controversy rests only with embryonic stem cells. However, non-embryonic cells cannot significantly affect major diseases. The government does not fund embryonic stem cell research properly because of pressure put on it by people who find it unethical. However, stem cell research is perfectly ethical! All types of stem cell research should be allowed to progress throughout America without any state-imposed ethical or financial restrictions.
People say that the use of embryonic stem cells is unethical, because they believe that life begins with conception, and therefore that destruction of a lab-fertilized human egg is murder. They believe those eggs possess the same rights as human beings. However, whether or not life begins at conception, scientific evidence proves those eggs to have no feelings, no emotions, no family, and no mind! Why do they have the same rights as living humans? Is it even arguable to say that those eggs’ lives are as valuable as those of living human beings? And is it even fair to say that the eggs’ lives are being taken in this process? I think not, because ethically, murder is defined as killing a being that does not wish to die, or at least has biological parents or a mind of its own! It is technically fair to say that stepping on a blade of grass is as much of a murderous act as killing a newly lab-fertilized egg, because they both have no emotions, no mind, and feel no pain. Hair-care products tested on rabbits to make our hair “smooth and silky” regularly kill them, but we cannot kill eggs to save some members of our own race? If thousands upon thousands of turkeys can be killed in the United States for the satisfaction of people’s lavish tastes on Thanksgiving, and if millions of chickens and cows, animals with emotional and physical feelings almost as acute as living humans, can be killed throughout the year for taste and nutrition, why cannot lab-fertilized eggs with absolutely no brain or nervous system be killed to save millions of American lives each year?
We have excellent reason to believe that embryonic stem cells can cure diseases; all logical evidence suggests that it will. According to americanheart.org, right now in America, over 81 million cases of some type of heart disease are plaguing people and families! That is about one fourth of the population. Of these cases, over 830,000 patients die each year. They might be your parents, your children, your neighbors, or even you. Cancer is another disease that is rampant in our country. According to the American Cancer Association, Cancer afflicts almost 560,000 people every year in America. There is no cure for either of these diseases, and the treatments for them, especially cancer, are extremely taxing on the rest of the body. Advancement in embryonic stem cell research can potentially stop all of this! If we research we can find ways to manipulate stem cells to replace cells lost during chemotherapy or make up for a lack of brain cells. We can cure Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, Stroke, Diabetes, and more! Nancy Reagan, wife of the late President Ronald Reagan, benefitted from stem cell research as a treatment for her Cancer, and now remains one of the most prominent lobbyists for embryonic treatment in the United States. Just imagine: hundreds of thousands of Americans are afflicted by a disease; some of them are strong enough to try to live a regular life, but they are always inferior and disadvantaged at physical or mental tasks, depending on their disease. Others live abnormal lives and cannot exist normally in society. Would you like to be one of these people? Stem cell research can cure all of their diseases, and yours too!
Another set of benefits of stem cell research is the myriad of injuries, birth defects, and organs that it can repair. Stem cell research will fix broken bones, torn muscles, or even replace cartilage in a much more effective manner than today’s treatments. Actor Christopher Reeve, after breaking his spine and completely paralyzing himself from the neck down, was not in the best condition, so he decided to try stem cell research. Adult cells could not treat his injury, and embryonic cells were not found in the USA due to lack of funding, so he went to Israel and got stem cell treatment, to great results. He was on the verge of being able to live like a normal person, but then died from a negative reaction to an antibiotic. The point is, a man who was about to be taken off life support by the hospital took a chance with stem cell research, and it would have cured him completely. After taking the stem cell treatment, Reeve’s condition improved so fast that he spent the rest of his life lobbying for the complete legalization and funding of stem cell research. Stem cells can also fix or replace birth defects and organs. The hundreds of thousands of people that need organ transplants can get treated without being cut open, and people with brain defects of injuries will finally receive treatment!
Some people challenge stem cell research not because of ethical qualms they have, but for other reasons they have to discourage stem cells. They say that the cost is too high, and the government has other things to pay for. But I don’t think that there is anything more worthy for the government to pay for than research that will most probably lead to a nation that will be able to keep disease and injury related deaths at bay, and possibly, in the future, eradicate diseases completely by developing stem cell vaccinations! If the government complains that money is an issue, they can cut it out of programs like the space program, which may be important, but not even nearly as important as research on the ground that can save human lives. Some researchers also argue that there is too much risk in embryonic stem cells, because of some harmful effects on lab rats that were injected. But embryonic stem cells do nothing different than the other types of stem cells, so if adult and umbilical cells aren’t harming humans (which they aren’t), neither will embryonic cells. Humans are not the same as rats! And of course there is some risk, but no more risk than there is with radiation treatment and heart transplants! Christopher Reeve died, not from the stem cells he had injected in him, but because of a regular antibiotic that reacted adversely with his heart! There is risk in all medical procedures, and stem cell injection is no different. The tremendous effectiveness of the treatment far outweighs the risks.
There is no reason the government should impede stem cell research in the USA. The benefits are enormous, and if the government gave ample funding and right-to-use of embryonic stem cells, there would practically be a health revolution within America! We would heal injuries with unheard-of speed, and a few years down the line, we may even create vaccinations against diseases like Cancer! There should be no ethical concerns about using embryonic stem cells, as lab-fertilized embryos at early stages have no feelings, and are less valued than fully developed humans. Hopefully we will use embryonic stem cells regularly sooner rather than later. Please contact your local legislator to try to do something about this issue, or simply raise awareness by telling people about this issue. If we can get enough people interested, maybe we can change the government’s policy on stem cells!
Works Cited
"Alzheimer's Facts and Figures." Alzheimer's Association. 30 Jul 2009. Alzheimer's Association National Office, Web. 24 Jan 2010.
"Countries' Policies on Stem Cell Research." Stem Cell Research. Web. 24 Jan 2010.
"Frequently Asked Questions." ISSCR. 27 Mar 2008. International Society for Stem Cell Research, Web. 24 Jan 2010.
"Heart Disease and Stroke Statistics." American Heart Association (2009): n. pag. Web. 24 Jan 2010.
"Heart Disease Facts and Statistics." Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. 2006. Web. 24 Jan 2010.
"Is embryonic stem cell research necessary?." Geneforum (2005): n. pag. Web. 24 Jan 2010.
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