Msanders OP-ed

Stem Cell research OP-ED.

Question: Is researching Stem Cells beneficial? Is it worth researching these cells?

Should scientist continue to work on the Stem Cell Research?

This is a debate that has been argued around in recent history. Stem cells are cells that help with the development in human organisms. These cells have the potential to create specific cells, such as blood, brain, muscle-cells and tissues. The research is  used for the  investigation of basic cells. There’s a side that believes that Stem cell research should be stopped in it’s entirety. There are people who believe that doing stem cell research is like  playing with the life and acting like God , meaning we mess with death. But is that the only reason why scientist shouldn’t continue to do stem cell research? That alone should not be the reason scientist should completely blow the project.

First of all there is a common myth that all stem cells come from  abortion. Fetal, umbilical and adult stem cells do not come from the embryos. Only the embryonic stem cells come from the affects of a abortion. One thing that should be clear is that embryonic stem cells are not human. But they are living organisms that have potential for life. The key word though is potential. Science Leadership Teacher Stephanie Dunda quoted “For it is up to the woman to decide if she wants her cells to be used for science. Theres no reason though why these cells should become a waste.”

Even with religions reasons one should not be against abortion should or hostile towards stem cell research completely. There are now new cells being used for research like Induce Pluripotent Stem Cells (IPS). They are the artificially made stem cells that do not come from the embryos like the adult stem cells. These cells must be used for advancement for fighting off life threatening diseases. 

In the Documentary Stem Cells Early Research by Nova, 13 year old Lauren Stanford suffers from type 1 diabetes. She can possibly have kidney failure and become blind in the next 15 -25 years.  The  scientists are trying to use the stem cell research to help fight off life threatening disease like diabetes,  Alzheimer’s disease and heart failure. With the development it will become possible to repair or replace damage organs completely.

In order to achieve the goals set by scientist, they are creating stem cells to fight off diseases. Although this will lead people to believe that humans will start cloning an embryonic cell or a human baby. No evidence though states that man wants to start cloning whole humans. They are only cloning stem cells that will lead to fighting off the diseases. As far as scientist know, they are not on the verge of cloning.

The stem cell research has become an interesting topic for years. But the right decision should be what’s beneficial for the future of man kind and that decision is continue to research on stem cells. It is not in-human to continue with stem cell research.