The Advances in Stem Cell Research

New Advances of Stem Cell Research

Stem cells are non-specialized cells, which has the potential to generate a particular cell in the body. For the past decade, stem cell research is focuses on the embryonic stem cells and umbilical stem cells, which are from tissues of vitro embryos and umbilical cord. The methods in harvesting the cells and its sources lead to an intense debate about ethics.

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In 2007, researchers move to a more ethical approach, the use of adult stem cells as alternative to embryonic stem cell. Adult stem cells are cells of the body that are induced become pluripotent cells. The use of adult stem cell is certainly the most important breakthrough in biotechnology. Adult stem cell is more beneficial and ethical than embryonic stem cell. Research on adult stem cells should be supported and utilized.

Health and Financial Benefits

Stem cell research can potentially help treat a range of diseases. It could lead humanity closer to improve treatment and possibly cure various diseases such as Parkinson’s disease, Alzheimer’s disease, Diabetes mellitus and Heart Ailments. Stem cell research has shown that stem cells have a remarkable ability to regenerate areas of the body, repairing damage or unhealthy tissues and curing degenerative diseases.

Furthermore, stem cell research can aid in the reduction of rising financial expenses that are related to the conventional treatment methods. Instead of spending thousands of dollars on chemotherapy and insulin inoculations which are not exactly the cure, sustaining adult stem cells research can help to develop cure for chronic diseases.

Risk and Effectiveness

The common belief is that adult stem cells are not as good as embryonic stem cells. Adult stem cells are pre-specialized cells that are stimulated to act as a non- specialized cell. Adult stem cells only have the ability to reproduce the tissues from which they came. Therefore, muscle cells are only capable of producing muscle cells; blood cells can only make blood. Whereas embryonic stem cells are able to replicate infinitely and can be characterize to become any of the two hundred and twenty cell types.

The opinion holds true in the sense that the embryonic stem cell can transform into any cell in the body but embryonic stem cell also impose risk. Embryonic stem cells have the ability to grow exponentially, in a similar manner of cancerous cells, if the cell is not compatible with the immune system of the patient. On the other hand, adult stem cells impose little to no risk to the patient’s immune system. Adult stem cells are the patient’s own cells. The recipient’s immune system does not reject the cells because their body can recognize its own.

Religion and Ethics

In accordance with anti-abortion stance and ideology seeking knowledge and ending human suffering, major world religion such as Christianity, Buddhism, Islam and Judaism favors stem cell research. However the Catholic and other Christian churches oppose embryonic stem cell research since it creates or destroys human embryos. The underlying belief is in the embryo’s right to life, any use of the embryo that is not for its own good is immoral and therefore, impermissible. Since adult stem cell originates from adult somatic cell, with the consent from the patient, there is no ethical concern regarding to adult stem cell research. Thus as a result of our analysis, it would appear that adult stem cell research is safer and more morally accepted. The research should be subsidized to advance the medical field to a new
level of treatment.

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