Week 5 Discussion Post 14 Document

AccordingtotheMayoClinic(2022),stemcellresearchcanbeused

to“increasetheunderstandingofhowdiseasesandconditions

develop.”Stemcellscanbeusedtogeneratenew,healthycellsto

replacethecellsthatareaffectedbyadisease(MayoClinic,2022).

Anoutcomeofstemcellresearchcanbethatpeoplewhosufferfrom

variousdiseasescanbenefitfromstemcelltherapies.Somediseases

include“spinalcordinjuries,type1diabetes,Parkinson’sdisease,

amyotrophiclateralsclerosis,Alzheimer’sdisease,heartdisease,

stroke,burns,cancerandosteoarthritis(MayoClinic,2022).Another

outcomeisthatwithmoreresearch,stemcellscanpotentiallybe

usedtobegrowntobecomenewtissue,whichisessentialin

transplantsandotherregenerativemedicines(MayoClinic,2022).

Althoughtherearegreatbenefitsofstemcellresearchforthosewith

chronicdiseases,thereisalotofcontroversysurroundingtheone

sourceofstemcells,embryonicstemcells.

Embryonicstemcellscomefromhumanembryosthatare3-5

daysold;thesecellsareusefulbecausetheycanbedividedinto

manystemcellsthatcanbecomeanytypeofcellinthebody(Mayo

Clinic,2022).Theethicalissuewithusingembryonicstemcellsisdue

to“thedestructionofhumanembryos”(Lo&Parham,2009).This

politicalcontroversyislinkedtothedebatesintheUSregarding

abortion.Whilesomepeoplebelievethatembryosaresimplycells

withapotentialtobecomeahumanbeing,othersbelievethatan

embryodeservesthesamemoralstatusofaperson(Lo&Parham,

2009).Destructingtheembryoscellsfromthisperspectivegoes

againstthe“pro-life”rhetoric,however,therearesomepeopleinthe

middleground,whoviewtheuseofembryonicstemcellsas“pro-

life”foritsabilitytohelpprolongthelifeofthosewithchronic,fatal

diseases(Lo&Parham,2009).Stemcellresearchcanbeclassifiedas

amorethanjustatopicofconversationinhealthcarewhenwe

considertheethicalimplicationsithasinthewayweviewhealthcare

throughapoliticallens.

References

Lo,B.&Parham,L.(2009).Ethicalissuesinstemcell

research.Endocrine Reviews, 30(3),204-213.Doi:10.1210/er.2008-

0031

MayoClinicStaff.(2022,March19).Stem cells: What they are and

what they do.MayoClinic.RetrievedApril18,2022,

fromhttps://www.mayoclinic.org/tests-procedures/bone-marrow-

transplant/in-depth/stem-cells/art-20048117#:~:text=Researchers

%20hope%20stem%20cell%20studies,how%20diseases%20and

%20conditions%20develop

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