Table of Contents
What is the major issue with embryonic stem cell research?
Opponents argue that the research is unethical, because deriving the stem cells destroys the blastocyst, an unimplanted human embryo at the sixth to eighth day of development. Why is the use of embryonic stem cells controversial? Due to the fact that they are derived from human embryos a lot of people believe that the use of the embryo for either research or treatment would result to killing a human life. But embryos must be destroyed in the process of generating stem cell lines for research. It’s illegal to create embryos specifically for research, but US researchers can use embryos from in vitro fertilization that would otherwise be discarded and have been donated for research. What are the limitations of these therapies? Many people have ethical problems using human embryos for scientific study. Also, embryonic stem cells’ ability to replicate endlessly means they may develop mutations that can interfere with their growth or allow them to keep dividing to the point of causing harm. All medical treatments have benefits and risks. But unproven stem cell therapies can be particularly unsafe. For instance, attendees at a 2016 FDA public workshop discussed several cases of severe adverse events. One patient became blind due to an injection of stem cells into the eye. On August 9, 2001, U.S. President George W. Bush introduced a ban on federal funding for research on newly created human embryonic stem (ES) cell lines. The policy was intended as a compromise and specified that research on lines created prior to that date would still be eligible for funding.
What are the controversial issues of using stem cells?
Many people disagree with using human embryonic cells for medical research because extracting them means destroying the embryo. This creates complex issues, as people have different beliefs about what constitutes the start of human life. But when scientists learned how to remove stem cells from human embryos in 1998, both excitement and controversy ensued. The excitement was due to the huge potential these cells have in curing human disease. The controversy centered on the moral implications of destroying human embryos. Experiments which may harm the embryo while still allowing it subsequently to realise its potential, and become a person, should not be permitted. It is the potentiality of the human embryo which governs our behaviour towards it. Its potential makes it special, and radically different from any other human tissue. Whereas Germany, Austria, Italy, Finland, Portugal and the Netherlands prohibit or severely restrict the use of embryonic stem cells, Greece, Sweden, Spain and the United Kingdom have created the legal basis to support this research. Belgium bans reproductive cloning but allows therapeutic cloning of embryos.
What are the benefits and drawbacks of using embryonic stem cells?
Embryonic stem cells are easy to extract from the embryo and can produce any type of cell, but the downside of using embryonic stem cells is that the embryo is destroyed when the cell is removed, this is an ethical issue because some people believe that embryos have a right to live. Therefore, it is ethically permissible for embryos, which have a modest moral status but not the status of persons, to be destroyed in the course of responsible stem cell research—provided they are destroyed with a sincere attitude of respect, for there is a moral loss here—something morally valuable is being destroyed … For those who believe that the embryo has equivalent moral status to a grown human person, research involving the use or destruction of human embryos is likely to be unacceptable, or acceptable only in a limited range of circumstances. The embryonic stem cells used in research today come from unused embryos. These result from an in vitro fertilization procedure. They are donated to science. These embryonic stem cells are pluripotent. Some Muslims are in favour of research, arguing that the embryo does not have a soul until the later stages of its development. Others agree with the Catholic Church which says that it is immoral to destroy embryos at any stage to harvest stem cells. In a move to curb rampant malpractice, India has banned commercial use of stem cells as elements of therapy and warned of punishments to erring clinicians claiming stem cell cures for diseases through direct-to-consumer marketing.
What is the most controversial source of stem cells?
The stem cell controversy is the consideration of the ethics of research involving the development and use of human embryos. Most commonly, this controversy focuses on embryonic stem cells. Not all stem cell research involves human embryos. Use of stem cells for any other purpose outside the domain of clinical trials will be considered unethical and hence is not permissible. Genome editing of germ cells (embryos, sperm and egg cells) was initially very controversial and caused some to call for an outright ban on this application. 6 Despite this, there has been a broad consensus among expert bodies that genome editing in research is morally permissible (see table 1 for summary). Though Hinduism believes that life begins at conception, the religion has no official position on stem cell research.
Why was stem cell research banned?
In 2001, President George W. Bush banned federal funding for embryonic stem cell research, citing that the use of these embryos, which would otherwise be discarded or would deteriorate in long-term storage, diminishes the value of human life. Although the creation and use of hESCs have long been the unique focus of stem cell ethics, more current controversies include the creation, for research use, of human embryos, human-animal chimeras, and gametes. Totipotent human embryonic stem cells, which, like the embryo, have the potential to develop into adult human beings, are also human life and have moral value. Because of the inevitable consequences of reproductive cloning, it is prohibited in Islam. However, stem cell research for therapeutic purposes is permissible with full consideration, and all possible precautions in the pre-ensoulment stages of early fetus development, if the source is legitimate. In many cases, adverse outcomes with stem cell therapy are brought about by non-homologous use of cells, Bryan noted, such as extracting stem cells from fat for injection into the eye or spinal cord. Reasons to ban germline gene editing include the profound risks to future children, thin medical justifications, reinforcing existing inequalities and creating new forms of discrimination, eroding public trust in responsible science, and undermining global agreements.