English Blog Term 2 Week 9

Blog Term 2 Week 9
Do you support stem cell research? Explain your view.

Stem cells are cells found in most, if not all, multi-cellular organisms. They are able to renew themselves through mitotic cell differentiating into a diverse range of specialized cell types. Stem cells can be grown and transformed into specialized cells with characteristics consistent with cells of various tissues such as muscles or nerves through cell culture. Highly plastic adult stem cells come from a variety of sources, including Umbilical cord blood. Umbilical cord blood and bone marrow are routinely used in medical therapies.
Stem cell research is used for investigation of basic cells which develop organisms. The cells are grown in laboratories. The tests are carried out to investigate fundamental properties of the cells. There are pros and cons to carrying out stem cell research. Although it is a tremendous breakthrough in medical science and is something that we should cheer, there are some concerns.
There are many advantages of stem cell research. The most obvious being able to treat a host of medical problems such as Parkinson’s Disease, Alzheimer’s Disease, Heart Diseases, Stroke and Diabetes, Birth Defects, Spinal Cord Injuries or even replace or repair damaged organs and the list goes on. This will revolutionise the world of medical treatments. It will ease the pain and suffering of the sick and injured. This research would give great insights about basics of the body.
However Stem Cell Research raises some issues, mostly ethical ones. For example, people are worried about how the knowledge will be used and we should not mess with human life. Stem cell research may lead to human cloning in the future. As with experience in other research which lead to adverse consequences, like the nuclear research, we have to be extra cautious.
Many critics are also concerned with the ethical issues relating to stem cell research. We should develop more ethical methods to extract the stem cell and also to research in a more ethical way. A life is a life and should not be compromised. A fertilized egg is a life even though it is only a few weeks old.
The benefits of stem cell research has such a great outcome that in my opinion it outweighs the ethical concerns. Strict guidelines should be in place to ensure that the research do not cross the tolerance range relating to ethical issues.
Thus for all obvious medical benefits and to lessen patient’s pain and improve the quality of people’s life, I totally support stem cell research. In fact, I aspire to be one of those researchers and to contribute positively to the research and medical arena.