Stem cell research has the potential to treat a wide range of diseases and disabilities but, as with most medicines, the research faces tough ethical and moral choices to advance. Some groups fear that the treatment may be unsafe; the therapy could inadvertently pass diseases and viruses to those receiving stem cell transplants.
Until recently stem cell research was non-existent in America, thanks to President Bush’s placing a blanket ban on federal funding for the scheme in 2001.However, this now no longer is the case under President Obama ushering a new era of scientific exploration.
Former President Bush enacted the policy on firm religious grounds arguing that embryos are human life and consequently should not face destruction.
Many anti-abortion, pro-life groups and religious conservatives agree with Bush’s stance - that life begins at conception and therefore embryos are human life and deserve the same protection from abuse and the same rights granted to any human.
Obama, like his predecessor, shares a deep-rooted belief in Christianity, but in the name of progress, Obama has taken a far more sensible and pragmatic approach, ensuring a fine balance between the role of science and faith stating, “As a person of faith, I believe we are called to care for each other and work to ease human suffering. I believe we have been given the capacity and will to pursue this research - and the humanity and conscience to do so responsibly.
However, Obama has sought tight ethical codes, stressing stem cells would not be used for human cloning. Embryonic stem cells have caused much of the controversy but according to the University of Edinburgh’s Social and Political Department “embryonic stem cells have the potential to become anything from skin cells to brain cells.” Specifically, the eggs derive from donations and the embryos themselves are often no more then four or five days old, known scientifically as a blastocyst (a hollow microscopic ball of cells that divides into three sections).
If scientists are able to successfully direct embryonic stem cells into specific cell types, in the future treatments for a number of different diseases could be available by transplanting cells - including illnesses such as Parkinson’s, diabetes, heart disease and spinal injuries.
Studying these embryonic stem cells may, in addition, help scientists to understand the complexities of human development. Treatments like this can also benefit from adult stem cells - if scientists can get them to grow in lab conditions and manipulate them to generate certain cell types to help treat the diseases mentioned.
However, Josephine Quintavalle of the public interest group Comment on Reproductive Ethics has questioned this, stating: “Embryonic stem cell research has been with us for over a decade now and there is very little to show for it in terms of tangible evidence of likely cures”. Obama’s stance on this issue is a victory for science and something we should admire and rejoice over.
If science can ever truly remove itself from the ethics debate, stem cell research has the potential for massive growth.
America will have to catch up quickly with nations like Britain in this field, but with proper funding and hard research we could be on the verge of discovering new cures - and our ethics should not stifle such scientific developments.
