Advancements in healthcare technology have provided the
opportunity to improve and transform healthcare delivery. One area
of study that dates back to the 1960s and continues today is stem
cell research (Ma et al., 2012). Stem cells can differentiate into
various types of cells, which is attractive due to the potential to treat
disease. As a result, the medical community has a great interest in its
advancement, but the research also raises ethical concerns regarding
the derivation of pluripotent stem cells from oocytes and embryos
(Lo & Parham, 2009). Some technologies are frequently used for
stem cell research, including stem cell culture, separation, and
identification techniques (Ma et al., 2012). The harvest of stem cells
can originate from adult body tissues and embryos, which the former
do not raise special ethical concerns and are widely used in research
and clinical care, such as bone marrow transplants (Lo & Parham,
2009).
The research and use of human embryonic stem cells (hESCs) have
raised great ethical concerns because they involved destroying
human embryos (Lo & Parham, 2009). In the United States, the
question of when human life begins is a controversial topic that
continues to be relevant in today’s politics regarding abortion laws.
Some people believe life begins at conception; therefore, an embryo
should be regarded as a person. On the other hand, some people
believe an embryo is a clump of cells that are not regarded as a
person. As a result, the federal government 1996 interceded and
enacted a policy that prohibits federal funding for the creation of
human embryos for research purposes or for research in which
human embryos are destroyed (Research!America, n.d.). Currently,
federally funded embryonic stem cell research can occur on the
viable hESC lines that were previously prohibited under former
President George W. Bush in 2001 (Research!America, n.d.). This is
due to former President Barack Obama’s issue of an Executive Order
in 2009 that reversed the prior’s (Research!America, n.d.).
References
Lo, B., & Parham, L. (2009). Ethical issues in stem cell research.
Endocrine reviews, 30(3), 204–
213. https://doi.org/10.1210/er.2008-0031
Ma, X., Zhang, Q., Yang, X., & Tian, J. (2012). Development of New
Technologies for Stem Cell Research. BioMed Research
International, 2012. https://doi.org/10.1155/2012/741416
Research!America. (n.d.). A Brief History of U.S. Stem Cell Policy.
Research!America. Retrieved April 20, 2022,
from https://www.researchamerica.org/advocacy-action/issues-
researchamerica-advocates/stem-cell-research/brief-history-us-
stem-cell
