This essay discusses stem cell research, including what stem cells are, their potential benefits for treating diseases, and associated ethical and political issues. Stem cells are undifferentiated cells that can develop into many specialized cell types and have potential to treat conditions like spinal cord injuries, heart disease, and diabetes. However, obtaining and using embryonic stem cells involves ethical debates around destroying embryos. Politically, U.S. government funding for stem cell research was restricted under President Bush but expanded under President Obama.

2. One-world Essay
Stem Cell
Name: Da Eun Kim
Due Date: 2010-09-29
Words: 1,252

3. Nowadays, we are facing the numerous advances in stem cell
technology. In the past, there is not any good way to treat damaged
tissues. However, we now have stem cell technology to overcome
this problem. Stem cells have amazing potential to treat diseases
such as spinal cord injuries, Alzheimer's disease, stroke, skin burns,
arthritis, birth defects, diabetes and heart diseases. In 1998,
scientists first learned how to isolate human embryonic stem cells.
They were developed for infertility purposes through in vitro
fertilization. (Fast Facts…Cell, 2010) This essay will discuss about
what is stem cell, benefits and limitations, ethical issues and political
issues that are all associated with stem cell.
Figure 1: 9-week human embryo (Uthman. 2010)
Stem cells have exceptional
potential to develop into many
different cell types in the body and
they are an undifferentiated cells
that are able to differentiate into
specialized cell types such as skin,
muscle, red blood, bone, nerve…
etc. Differentiation is a process
which cell of initial steps can get
characteristics of each
organization. Most common
example is a development of animals. In other words, a fertilized
egg needs to differentiate when different tissue cells make it. Most
common types of stem cells are embryonic stem cells and adult
stem cells. Embryonic stem cells are got from 4 or 5 day-old human
embryos that are in the blastocyst phase of development. The
embryos are usually extras that have been created in IVF (in vitro
fertilization) clinics where several eggs are fertilized in a test tube,
but not in woman’s body. Adult stem cells exist throughout the
body after embryonic development and are found inside of different
types of tissue.
Stem cells have several benefits by using them. First of all,
stem cells can treat burn victims, Parkinson’s disease…etc. Stem
cells could make some healthy and new tissues. Stem cells can

4. differentiate into specialized cell types; there is possibility to give
renewable tissues of replacement cells for people whom suffering
from diseases. For example, a patient who has suffered from a
heart attack and sustained the damaged heart tissue could replace
by healthy new muscle cells. (Benefit of stem…, 2010) Also, adult
stem cells can treat disease using renewable tissues that a
patient’s own cells. Risks of rejection would be quite reduced
because the cells are from patients’ bodies so their bodies would
not reject their own cells. Lastly, embryonic stem cells can develop
into any cell types of the body, and more adaptable than adult stem
cells but by using it, there is an ethical problem so the research
about embryonic stem cells could not make progress.
As stem cells have lots of benefit, so they also have limitations
to use it. To begin with, adult stem cells are limited in numbers.
There are only cells that can be harvested from an individual and
scientists force to make wise and sensible use of the available
quantity. Additionally, adult stem cells do not have a long storage
life. They do not thrive as much as their embryonic counterparts in
laboratory cultures. Therefore it becomes difficult to preserve these
cells in cultures for longer periods of time. Finally, according to a
new research, stem cells could make heart disease patients'
coronary arteries become narrower.
Scientists discovered that although
participants' heart function improved,
there was an unexpectedly high rate of
coronary artery narrowing.
Figure 2: Harvesting stem cells (Stem Cell
Research…, 2007)
Stem cells have big ethical problem
that keep arguing constantly. There are
ethical problems at using embryonic stem
cells and there are agreement and
disagreement of using embryonic stem
cells. Using embryonic stem cells, people
who suffering from various diseases such
as schizophrenia, Alzheimer’s disease,
Cancer, spinal cord injuries and diabetes

5. could treat their diseases and have hopes but in other hand, they
assert that human embryos have potential to create human being so
it is killing human embryos by researchers and they have no right to
take anyone’s life. Many pro-lifers and religious groups oppose this
part of stem cell research. They declare that the ‘pre-embryo’ is a
potential human being. 3 days after it is fertilized, the embryo is at
the ‘blastocyst’ stage. These embryos are also referred to as
‘pre-embryos’. This means, that these embryos do not have a
brain, heart, lungs, internal organs etc. They also do not possess
any awareness, or senses, or thought processes.
Stem cells also have political problem. In 2001, former U.S
President George W. Bush set a limit on funding stem cell research
by using government money because of some ethical problems and
ex-president were supported by a group called Moral Majority but
most of the group members are Christian fundamentalists and they
believe that life begins at conception, the blastocyst is a human life
and to destroy so they didn’t accept embryonic stem cell research
and it is immoral so he vetoed stem cell research. The veto comes
just a day after the Senate had passed the bill 63-37, four votes
short of the 2/3 majorities that would have been needed to override
the president’s veto. (buzzle, 2010) But Barack Obama, now a
president of U.S signed an executive order on Monday repealing a
Bush’s policy that limited federal tax dollars for embryonic stem cell
research. When he was announcing the new policy, Mr. Obama said,
"so many scientists and researchers and doctors and innovators,
patients and loved ones have hoped for and fought for these past
eight years". (President Obama, 2009) In July, a USA TODAY/Gallup
Poll found that a majority, 58%, of Americans disapproved of Bush's
veto. (Stem Cell Research…, 2007)
In conclusion, development of stem cell is very useful field to
research further. Stem cell should be widely promoted by the factor
of repairing damaged tissues, reducing the risk of rejection in a
patient’s body and being flexible. However, there are ethical and
political considerations that need to be solved. If these are
completely solved, we may take numerous advantages given by
stem cell.

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