Stem cells can develop into any type of specialized cell and have potential benefits but also raise ethical issues. Pluripotent stem cells from embryos can become any cell type but multipotent stem cells from adults are more limited. Stem cell research could lead to cures for diseases and solutions to organ donation shortages by growing organs from a patient's own cells to avoid rejection. However, research using embryonic stem cells involves human embryos and questions arise regarding when life begins and whether embryos should be used for research versus other alternatives. The potential benefits of stem cell research must be weighed against the ethical issues.

1. Stem Cell Research Essay
Stem Cell Research
What is a Stem Cell?
Stems cells are immature cells found in embryos that can develop into any kind of specialized
cells. They can form virtually any cell of the human body. These types of stem cells are known as
pluripotent cells. Multipotent cells are stem cells that are more mature; they can be found in adults
and children. Multipotent cells are not as flexible as pluripotent cells, as they have already
developed into more specialized human cells.
Benefits of Stem Cells
Benefits of stem cell research can be overwhelming. Today, millions of people around the world
suffer from incurable diseases. Stem cell research could help the scientific community find a
breakthrough in developing a cure. By observing...show more content...
Stem cells, taken from a cloned embryo of the subject, could be used to grow organs and remedy
the organ donation problem. Stem cells from a different embryo could also be used to create
organs. If scientists opted to grow an organ from the subject, there would be a much lesser chance of
tissue rejection. One of the current problems with organ donation is that the host body rejects the
transplant tissue because it is "foreign." If the organ came from the recipient, it would essentially not
be foreign tissue.
Professional, Legal, and Ethical Issues
While there are enormous benefits to stem cell research, many professional, legal, and ethical
questions arise about stem cells. Should stem cell researchers continue their research for profit? Or
should they continue their research for the benefit of society? Those motivated by personal profits
will be more motivated to uncover the most about the benefits of stem cells. However, these same
individuals may opt to achieve the end, whatever the means. Individuals motivated by the benefit of
society may take longer to research stem cells, but they may be more careful throughout the process.
Should stem cell research even be legal? Should the government fund it? Currently, stem cell
research continues, but it is limited to research on existing stem cell lines. Opponents of stem cell
research are fighting
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2. Stem Cell Research Benefits
Stem Cell Research; Benefit to Medicine Would you say no to treating many kinds of diseases,
repairing damaged cells, and growing human organs? Well, look no further, stem cell research is
your way to go. Stem cell research has been a tough subject for many people to touch on, due to it
involving a human embryo; but not many people know that you can also use cells from adults to
grow like stem cells as well, but it is not as effective as embryonic stem cells. Embryonic stem cell
research involves taking an embryo from a woman after 4–5 days of pregnancy, so that it has
developed enough, and should have around 150 cells ("Pros and Cons"). Stem cell research will
contribute greatly to benefit medicine and the health of patients by stem cells...show more content...
Everything in your body works together, and when something fails, more than likely, some other
part of your body, most likely an organ, will shut down as well. With stem cell research and
development, scientists are getting closer and closer to creating new organs, and it will be able
to save the lives of more patients (Egendorf 162). Stem cells are unspecialized cells that have an
opportunity to become blood, brain, tissue, muscle, and many more types of cells in the human
body ("Pros and Cons"). Stem cells stand the chance of becoming limbs, and scientists are working
to the best of their ability to make it possible. They have used stem cells on salamanders with
missing limbs, and they have been able to regrow their limbs back, so scientists believe that we
stand a chance of regrowing our own human limbs with the use of stem cells
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3. Stem Cell Research Essay
Stem cell research is the future of medical and biological research and remedies, and it is
fascinating to watch the progression of this new and important science as it unfolds. These cells
were discovered in mouse embryos in the 1980s, and are remarkable because of their potential to
grow into a variety of different kinds of cells within a body. Common in fetuses, and more rare in
adult animals of all kinds, stem cells can be manipulated in useful ways to repair many tissues,
dividing limitlessly for therapeutic purposes. When a stem cell divides, each new cell has the
potential either to remain a stem cell or to differentiate into more specialized tissue, such as nerve,
pancreas, bone marrow, or unique blood components. Initially...show more content...
While it is true that all people began as blastocysts and embryos, and that we agree a formed
person has moral standing, this led to a gray area in ethical reasoning. At what point do we
consider a person to be a person? Did the parents of the embryos knowingly contribute their
potential offspring for research? If a blastocyst is merely undifferentiated tissue, this is no
problem. But if it is a person, then is it even legally possible for its parents to donate one person in
the service of other people? The rational solution to this quandary is to recognize that while fetuses
may or may not have moral standing as people, they unquestionably can be utilized to help the lives
of those that we KNOW to have moral standing. Laws are not, and should not be made based on
subjective arguments of the greater good. They are, and should be, based on known benefits and
costs. If the agencies that funnel funding from "defunct" research areas decided to reroute them into
stem cell acquisition from (for instance) plants, then the issue would not be controversial. (except for
maybe the Environmental Liberation Front, perhaps). [Bjerkvig, Tysnes, Aboody, Najbauer, and
Terzis "The origin of the cancer stem cell: current controversies and new insights" National Institutes
of Health (995) December 5, 2005] Scientists
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