Is embryonic stem cell research good or bad?
Stem cells differentiate into many specialized cells and are therefore of interest in chronic conditions for which treatment is limited. However, human embryonic stem cell (HESC) research is unethical since it results in the destruction of human life for research purposes.
Is it morally acceptable to use embryos for research?
Some argue that as long as the decision to donate embryos for research is made after the decision to discard them, it is morally permissible to use them in HESC research even if we assume that they have the moral status of persons. The claim takes two different forms.
What religions are against embryonic stem cell research?
The Catholic Church has become the leading voice against any form of human cloning and even against the creation of human embryonic stem-cell lines from ‘excess’ in vitro fertilization (IVF) embryos.
Do Embryonic stem cells represent a human life?
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.
Why embryonic stem cells should not be used?
However, human embryonic stem cell (hESC) research is ethically and politically controversial because it involves the destruction of human embryos. As a matter of religious faith and moral conviction, they believe that “human life begins at conception” and that an embryo is therefore a person.
Why is stem cell research banned?
Deisher and Sherley, who both study adult stem cells, contend that NIH funding for research on human embryonic stem cells is illegal because it violates the Dickey–Wicker Amendment, a law that prohibits federal funding for research in which embryos are destroyed or discarded.
Why are embryonic stem cells illegal?
Illegal: Current federal law enacted by Congress is clear in prohibiting “research in which a human embryo or embryos are destroyed, discarded, or knowingly subjected to risk of injury or death.” Embryonic stem cell research requires the destruction of live human embryos to obtain their stem cells.
What are the risks of embryonic stem cells?
However, most of the risks of stem cell transplantation will be directed to research participants, and include tumour formation, inappropriate stem cell migration, immune rejection of transplanted stem cells, haemorrhage during neurosurgery and postoperative infection.
What do Hindus think of stem cells?
Conclusion: Embryonic stem cell research is permissible and encouraged according to Hindu and Buddhist perspectives in view of the potential benefits of such research to society, with some reservations. This is similar to Islamic views on the ethics of ESCR.
Why embryonic stem cells are better?
Embryonic stem cells. These are pluripotent (ploo-RIP-uh-tunt) stem cells, meaning they can divide into more stem cells or can become any type of cell in the body. This versatility allows embryonic stem cells to be used to regenerate or repair diseased tissue and organs.
Why shouldn’t we use embryonic stem cells?
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. “It is important to be clear about the embryo from which stem cells are extracted. It is not implanted and growing in a woman’s uterus.