english essay

Stem cells have the potential of developing into any type of specialized cell, through a process of cell division. In many tissues, stem cells serve the function of repair of the internal system. Embryonic stem cells and non-embryonic somatic stem cells are the two types most commonly used by scientists. The first major scientific breakthrough with stem cells happened in 1998, when scientists discovered a way of successfully deriving them from human embryos. The use of stem cells in the advancement of scientific research and medical breakthroughs has always sparked debate on its ethical nature, and stem cells appear in literature that date back to the 1860s.

Creation from stem cells first made its appearance in ancient Indian literature. One chapter from Mahabharata mentions Kauravas, created form pinda, which Gandhari eventually delivered after a two year long pregnancy. The foetus was then divided into one hundred parts, by sage Dwapayan, and treated with herbs. They were then stored for an additional two years, and later gave birth to Kauravas. The techniques described by Mahabharata closely resemble those used in today’s harvest and processing of embryonic stem cells. There have been claims that stem cell research is a lost science with its origins in ancient India.

In 1868, a German biologist by the name Ernst Haeckel openly supported Darwin’s theory of evolution, and proposed the fertilized egg be considered a stem cell. Ernst Haeckel saw the leap of evolution into embryology. Major debates on stem-cell research from the 19th century revolved around the works of August Weismann, which focused on the continuity of the germ plasm. Two biologists, Theodor Boveri and Valentine Hacker took Weismann’s work even further and discovered that the germline cells transmitted genetic material to the consequent generation, since they maintained a full chromatin complement. Around the same time there were questions on the existence of a common precursor of various cell types of the blood.

Political sensibilities on the issue of stem cell research and use relaxed in the mid-90s, as scientists such as E. Donnall Thomas won the Nobel Prize, for his attempt to transplant the human bone marrow. In 1996 though, United States of America Congress enacted a policy, referred to as the Dickey-Wicker Amendment, which banned the Federal Agency from funding research being carried out on embryos. This was the first time, in American history, where Congress was actively involved in stem cell research, and the use of federal funds to facilitate it. In 2000, the National Health Institute released guidelines on any research carried-out on embryonic stem cells. George W. Bush also prohibited further funding of stem cell research in 2001. Most recently, President Barack Obama issued an executive order removing barriers on responsible research involving embryonic stem cells.