This document discusses stem cells, stem cell therapy, and the ethical and political dilemmas surrounding stem cell research. It provides background on what stem cells are, how stem cell therapy works and its advantages. However, extracting stem cells from human embryos requires their destruction and poses an ethical dilemma between advancing medical research and respecting human life. The document examines different views on the moral status of human embryos and how political decisions can influence stem cell research.

1. STEM CELL: AN Ethical &
Political Dilemma
Aum Sri Sai Ram

2. What Are Stem Cells?
• Stem cells an undifferentiated cell of a multicellular
organism that is capable of giving rise to
indefinitely more cells of the same type, and from
which certain other kinds of cell arise by
differentiation.
• Stem cells begin as "blanks" without a dedicated
task, but with an ability to become specialized.

3. Stem Cell Therapy
• Stem-cell therapy is the use of stem cells to treat
or prevent a disease or condition.
• Bone marrow transplant is the most widely used
stem-cell therapy, but some therapies derived
from umbilical cord blood are also in use.
• Human clinical trials show that these new cells go
to the diseased or injured body part and begin to
generate healthy cells and tissue; the cells are
especially successful because they contain the
exact DNA of the patient, preventing cell rejection.

4. Why Stem Cell Therapy Is
Advantageous?
• Bone marrow transplant is the most widely used stem-cell
therapy, but some therapies derived from umbilical cord
blood are also in use.
• Immune to immune attack: If patients receive the products
of their own stem cells, they will not mount an immune
response.
• Available: Some types, like blood stem cells, are easy to find.
• Partly specialized: That reduces the amount of outside
direction needed to create specialized cells.
• Flexible: Adult stem cells may form other tissue types. Last
fall, scientists reported that skin and blood stem cells both
produced cells that look like neurons -- in the lab.

5. How Far is it Proved?
• Creation of stem cell was an age-old process prevalent in ancient India, the
cardiologist said and cited instances of queen Gandhari delivering 100
Kauravas, after sage Vyas divided a ball of flesh into that many parts, kept
them in pots, treated with herbs and ghee and kept them in a cool chamber.
• ‘Stem cell therapy a boon for patients ’
“Cardiologist G. Subrahmanyam says embryonic stem cells derived from the
inner mass of blastocysts can renew indefinitely when cultured and have
great potential for alleviating symptoms or even curing paralysis, diabetes,
Alzheimer and Parkinson’s diseases”

6. Then What Is The Problem?
• The ethical dilemma
Embryonic stem cell research poses a moral dilemma. It forces us to choose
between two moral principles:
The duty to prevent or alleviate suffering
The duty to respect the value of human life
• So which moral principle should have the upper hand in this situation? The
answer hinges on how we view the embryo. Does it have the status of a
person?

7. Lets Look at
The socio-ethical and legal aspects of stem cell research and
related therapies.
1. Respect for human life
2. Human dignity
3. Status of the human embryo

8. Lets discuss on some Context
1. The embryo has full moral status from fertilization onwards
2. There is a cut-off point at 14 days after fertilization
3. The embryo has increasing status as it develops
4. The embryo has no moral status at all

9. Lets Look at Political Influence on
this matter
• On August 9, 2001, President George W. Bush
announced his decision on the federal funding of
embryonic stem cell research, and he pleased
neither scientists nor the stalwart opponents of
research.