Unless you are the self-proclaimed science nerd of your friend and family circle, most people don’t quite understand stem cell research and the ethical issues surrounding it.
If you try to learn more from Google, you will likely be bombarded by medical lingo until you feel immersed in a foreign language.
Have no fear, here’s a few things you need to know about stem cell research to impress your science nerd friends.
Human embryonic stem cell research usually begins when scientists manufacture conception within a lab. Once conception has been manufactured, the tiny human is allowed to grow for about 3-5 days. Then, the developing human is usually killed in order to harvest the stem cells for research.
At conception this tiny human’s hair color, eye color, and sex have already been determined. The tiny human’s DNA is completely unique from the mother and father and will never again be repeated in the history of the human race. To conduct embryonic stem cell research, scientists usually stop that rapidly growing tiny human from developing – which otherwise left alone – would become a fully formed human being. Remember, you and I started out this small too!
Not exactly. Not only is it very controversial, it has been found highly ineffective as well. Adult stem cell research has been found to be significantly more successful.
Not so fast. Most of adult stem cell research is ethical and shows very encouraging results to cure neurological and other diseases. However the word “adult” in stem cell research is used to describe the age of the cell not the age of the person its is taken from. Therefore, adult stem cells can also be used to describe cells taken from an aborted child.
You can find more information at www.stemcellresearch.org. You can also find additional information at Wisconsin Right to Life.