Blog Post #1
Stem cell research has always been a widely controversial topic around the world. Many
scientists have discovered how to isolate haploid embryonic cells leading to the possibility of
changing the genetic makeup of chromosomes. However, with such a great discovery comes with
great concern. One type of ethical issue that is associated with this type of research is religious
beliefs. Even though studies are still being conducted, scientists could potentially create human
eggs in laboratories called gametogenesis. This conflicts with religious beliefs because many
people believe that if humans start creating other “human beings” it is taking over God’s job and
could lead to a point where morality will not be important anymore. Another concern is the
destruction of embryos. The process that is used to create haploid stem cells requires us to
retrieve stem cells from an embryo which kills it in the process. Last but not least, using a
women’s egg for experimental purposes is also highly controversial. This is due to the known
and unknown risks that is associated with injecting medication into women in order to stimulate
their ovaries.
The goal of this research is to create haploid hESCs to have only half of the chromosomes so that
in the future scientists could change the genetic makeup of chromosomes. There are two
techniques that could be used to create haploid embryonic cells. One requires the conversion of
the human egg to have genetics from the mother by making it “think” that it is fertilized. The
other technique removes the nucleus from the egg and adds the nucleus of the sperm cell creating
a “half-clone”. Scientists could also implement a newer technique called CRISPR-Cas9 which
turns a cell into a germ cell. This could be used to genetically modify haploid embryonic stem
cells and create human eggs. In 2016, Sagi et al was conducting an experiment to isolate haploid
embryonic stem cells from the human oocyte and discovered that they could purify stem lines to
only have haploid cells. Unfortunately, they also noticed that the haploid hESCs would become
diploid every time it replicates. Due to this, the cells needs to be continually purified.
The pros to this research is that haploid hESCs can perpetually create new cells in the labs
containing only one set of chromosomes. This allows them to become any stem cell it wants for
example, neurological cells, cardiovascular cells, etc. This will then make it easier for scientists
to understand how changes in the cell will affect their development. The cons with this research
is of course all the controversy that surrounds stem cell research.
The parties that are effected are women because in order to create haploid hESCs scientists need
oocytes. Women have the right to refuse to donate their eggs, but if they agree it still violates
ethicalness because they need to be injected with a medication to stimulate their eggs. This
process is very risky because of the known/unknown risks that comes with it. There has been
numerous press releases and articles being written about this discovery in order to spread it to the
public. Of course there will be differing viewpoints which can either make the public for or
against it. I do not believe that this article had any bias as it was purely just to inform us about
haploid stem cells.
This article (https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2017/06/170628131826.htm) also talks about
haploid hESCs. It is very similar to the first article I read and it pretty much just informs us of
the discovery of haploid stem cells and its benefits. I do sense a bit of a bias in this article as it
only mentions the pros and not the cons. I believe that the author that wrote it is for stem cell
research.
I believe that stem cell research is one of the greatest discovery of all time. The fact that
scientists have discovered how to create other “human beings” is something that I would of
never thought could happen. The benefits that this brings is definitely a breakthrough for science,
but there is also a great amount of risks. I strongly follow the rights approach as I believe that
every human being have moral rights that should never be violated. With that being said,
everyone has the right to choose whether they want to be part of stem cell research or not. If they
do not wish to take part we should respect their decisions. If they do wish to take part then it is
important that they are informed of all the risks that is associated with it. Everyone has the right
to make their own choices.
Works Cited
Hebrew University of Jerusalem. "First 'haploid' human stem cells could change the face of
medical research." ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, 28 June 2017.
<www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2017/06/170628131826.htm>.
Zeiger , Heather. “Haploid Stem Cells.” Haploid Stem Cells, Bioethics, 10 Aug. 2017,
www.bioethics.com/archives/39546.
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