Tuan 1 Ethical Issues on Human Embryonic Stem Cell Research James A. Thomson and John D.

Gearhart both isolated human embryonic stem cells in November 1998 individually. Ever since the discovery of embryonic stem cells, ethical issues have been the center of attention when it came to embryonic stem research. The senate was called to debate the funding for the research due to the ethical issues. Funding for the research was allowed for a short period of time. In January 2001, George W. Bush discontinued the funding because he was against any research that involved destroying human embryos. In the same year, Bush unbanned the funding and placed a restriction on it. Years later, when Obama became the president, he signed an executive order lifting the ban. This had caused outrage for pro-life activists while scientist applauded the decision. Throughout the years, researchers have been looking for methods that would meet the standards of embryonic cells to prevent any ethical issues. There are two main kind of stem cell research. There are the human embryonic stem cell research and the induced pluripotent stem cell research. To define what a stem cell is, they are one kind of cells that can be found in our body and they are found to be undifferentiated cells. There are a few ways to obtain these undifferentiated stem cells. One way is from the human embryos that can be obtained from a cell called the blastocyst. In order to do this, the embryo had to be disassembled. Once the stem cells are obtained from the blastocyst, the cells will be grown on cultures at the same time, the scientists control the cells for them to stay undifferentiated until they are ready to be

Tuan 2 induced to different cell types. Another way to obtain stem cells is from the adult stem cells, called the induced pluripotent stem cell. They are obtained from adults and then reprogrammed genetically. Stem cells in general can be differentiated into heart muscle cell, nerves cell, or blood cell. The differentiation of stem cells posed a question of whether incurable disease can be cured. Stem cells are often related to regenerative medicine due to the ability of differentiation. Stem cells may hold the future of curing diseases including Parkinsons, Alzheimers, diabetes, stroke, burns, spinal cord, cardiovascular, osteoarthritis, and so on. Other than curing diseases, stem cells can help us understand cancer at an in-depth level and how our cells can be manipulated. Ever since the use of embryos was found, major debate over ethical issues had evolved. The ethical issue of whether using embryos for research is moral or immoral? There are many sides to the ethical issue of the usage of embryos. From a political point of view, there is no doubt that the United States would want to be ahead of the other countries. As from a religious point of view, the Catholic Church is clearly against the use of any research involving human embryos. To their definition, the embryos are equivalent to a living person. So since the isolation of stem cells involves the destruction of embryo, the Catholic Church recognizes that as ending ones life. If one is looking from that point of view, it generally means to enhance a persons life, we would have to end the other. However, if one disregards the opinion of the church, even though the embryo is technically a living organism it does not have any fully functional system. This means that the embryo that is considered a living person cannot

Tuan 3 feel anything, remember or retain any memories. Therefore, why is using human embryos so immoral? Despite all the ethical debate, the majority of the public supports continued research using embryonic stem cells. (Shand, 972) As a supporter of human embryonic stem cell research, there must be restrictions on the use of embryos. In the case of using embryo can possible help our future generation by giving them more information on how stem cells work and it could also provide any other necessary information for research. Human embryonic stem cell research is not the only work that involves embryos. Other work that involves human embryos is in vitro fertilization, abortion, and so on. If one states that the use of embryos for stem cell research is immoral then wouldnt the use of in vitro fertilization and the process of abortion around the world be immoral too? Abortion is another topic that had caused many serious debates. Abortion is a procedure where one would remove a growing embryo/fetus from the womb. There are many methods to carry out the procedure. In some cases, abortion is carried out in the second and third trimester of pregnancy. At these stages, the embryo is not an embryo it is little human being. During the second trimester of pregnancy, the fetus will have muscle and bone tissues, and they will be able to start hearing, swallowing, and kicking. During the third second trimester, the fetus is fully form and will have functioning organs. However, the nervous system of the fetus are not fully developed, meaning they will not be able to feel pain. But does that mean killing a human being that has no pain receptors is moral? This

Tuan 4 poses a whole other topic. All in all, if such abortion were legal in some states, why would the use of embryos be immoral? Another topic that involves the embryos is in vitro fertilization. In vitro fertilization is where the egg and sperm are fused outside of the body. Once the embryo is formed in a laboratory setting, it is then placed into the womans uterus. The IVF process does not guarantee a hundred percent fertilization in the womb. Most of them patients would have to go through numerous treatments before the success of fertilization in the womb. The process of IVF involves a number of steps. The woman would be given fertility drugs to stimulate numerous eggs in a month. After stimulating, the doctor will then retrieve the eggs and mix it with the sperms in hopes of fertilization. Once fertilization is succeeded, the fertilized embryo will be placed back into the womans womb. Countless of embryos were made just to have a baby, when fertilization is successfully in the womb, the remaining embryos will tend to be discarded or donated. If the use of embryos for research were immoral, wouldnt discarding the embryos be more immoral? One way to counteract this controversy was to use the embryos that were going to be discarded for the stem cell research. However in order to do this, the patient has to agree to donate their unused embryos for research or for other patients who are in need of eggs. As for today, one of the sources of obtaining embryos for research is from the donations of IVF patients. In one of my sources, they suggested that induced pluripotent stem cells should be used first. However, induced pluripotent stem

Tuan 5 cells do not necessary have the same mechanism or results as human embryonic stem cells. It will definitely be rational to use the induced pluripotent stem cells first then use the human embryonic stem cell so it would go to waste. Restrictions on the use of human embryos will definitely help diminish much debate over the usage. Other than using induced pluripotent stem cells first, one recommendation could be strictly using the donated embryos as the only resource. I support the use of human embryonic stem cell research to a certain extent. However, I do not think that human embryonic stem cell is immoral. There should be restriction or rules regarding the use of human embryos in respect to the meaning of life.

[Need more restrictions/rule to support argument. Need conclusion as well]

Tuan 6 Works Cited Miller, Ronald B. Ethical Issues in Stem Cell Research, Therapy, and Public Policy. Fundamentals of the Stem Cell Debate. Ed. Kristen Renwick Monroe, Ronald B. Miller, and Jerome S. Tobis. Los Angeles: University of California Press, 2008. 146-174 Nickel, Philip. Ethical Issues in Human Embryonic Stem Cell Research. Fundamentals of the Stem Cell Debate. Ed. Kristen Renwick Monroe, Ronald B. Miller, and Jerome S. Tobis. Los Angeles: University of California Press, 2008. 63-78 National Bioethics Advisory Commission. Ethical Issues in Human Stem Cell Research. Maryland, 1999.Print Ali, Tehseen F., et al. The Stem Cell Debate. International Journal of Collaborative Research on Internal Medicine and Public Health 4.5 (2012): 561-565. Web. 24 February 2014. Shand, Jessica, et al. Human Embryonic Stem Cell (hESC) and Human Embryo Research. Official Journal of The American Academy of Pediatrics 130.5 (2012): 972-977. Web. 24 February 2014. Callaway, Ewen. Vatican Calls off Stem Cell Conference. Nature International Weekly Journal of Science. Nature Publishing Group. 26 March 2012. Wed. 6 February 2014. Swaminathan, Nikhil. New Source of Stem Cells: Amniotic Fluid. Scientific American. Nature Publishing Group. 7 January 2007. Web. 6 February 2014.

Tuan 7 Ornes, Stephen. What Makes a Stem Cell. Discover: Science for the Curious. Kalmbach Publishing Co., 8 April 2010. Web. 6 February 2014.