Caylin Sterwerf

Simon Workman

ENG.1201.107

3 May 2022

The science field is always evolving and starting new research and discovering new

treatments, new diseases, and even new cures for different diseases. There is a lot of research

going on everyday in the science field. With all this new research that is going on scientist are

trying to find new ways to help people who may experience pain or could use something to

help improve their quality of life. Stem cells therapy is a new idea that has been researched to

see if that can help improve someone life. Stem cells are a very interesting topic of discussion.

They also have a lot of controversy that goes along with them and what is considered ethical or

not. Stem cells are using embryonic stem cells and doing research on the cells. Some people

and even scientist think that using the cells are unethical because they are killing of an embryo

and using those cells in research. Using all this information about stem cells scientist are finding

different ways to use them and seeing if this could help anybody out. There are two different

sides the people who are for this research and the use of the cells and the people who are

against and want to help people but by using a different option like adult stem cells which are

similar or other options that could be studied and used instead of the embryonic cells.
 When you think of embryonic stem cells you think of the using embryos that are dead for
research. Stem cells should not be researched at all. The research cost too much money and is not
worth studying for the price you have to pay. According to The White House news article “The
Administration has provided nearly 3.7 billion dollars for research on all forms of Stem Cells. That is
a lot of money and is it being put to beneficial use. We could be using this money from stem cells to
better the economy and making the United States a better place to live. It may be some major
science break through with stem cells but using them is not right.

Adult stem cells are really the same thing as embryonic, but you are not killing a human
being. Scientists get adult stem cells or somatic cells from already health and formed tissues in the
human body. Yet they are more limited in what they can do and how many different tissues types
they can form in to they are still a better option then embryonic. Konski wrote in her article Stem
cell patents “Induced pluripotent stem cells or iPS were created two research teams by inserting
genes encoding transcript factors into somatic human skin cells.” They were hoping that this
research will take some of the controversy from embryonic stem cells since they would be using
adult stem cells.

Religion is another reason that stems cells are considered controversial. Many people and
religions do not like the fact of abortions and killing off a ball of cells. Everyone argues about when
the beginning of life is. Some people say it is when the egg become fertilizes. Other say it is some
time after that. Religion pays a key role in this because everyone believes differently about the
topic. An article called The Moral Argument Against Embryonic Stem Cells Research Is Flawed says”
The church sees every human life at every stage as equally worthy of protection and the more
vulnerable a human being in a particular stage.” This says that we should protect a human life at all
stages including the stage of an embryo. Showing that life is valuable at all stages.
 Stem Cells play a significant role in the beginning of life. They are cells that can become any
tissue, organ, skin, nerve and even heart tissue. When a piece of tissue or an organ gets hurt or gets
some kind of disease and it starts to deteriorate you can use stem cells to help rebuild the tissue
that was lost or torn. Scientist have found that stem cells can help be a treatment for the people
who have cancer, certain diseases like Parkinson’s, Alzheimer’s, heart diseases and many more. It
can also help if you get into a serious accident, and you hurt a major muscle in your body stem cells
can help rebuild that tissue to help you live a fuller life. When a patient has cancer and has been
having chemo and radiation to kill the cancer it is also hurting the cells around them. Using stem cell
therapy could help rebuild those tissues and to help strengthen those tissues that may have been
damaged. They do not just help restore damage tissue they can help hair growth and stimulate scar
tissue with new tissue that is healthier.

People say that killing the embryo for stem cells are bad because you are killing an embryo
but 60% of people are killed by spontaneous abortions. Abortions are also killing off stem cells, but
people are ok with that when instead of getting an abortion you can donate those embryos to
science and stem cell research and those can help a life and with the research, they could help a
person in an accident who may have an incurable disease. When people think that stem cell
research is worse than abortions, they both may have similar consequences of killing an unborn
baby but if you donate to research those cells are being used to help research further medical
research and helping people out who may need it.

Some of the major benefits that you can get from stem cell therapy is it can help reduce
pain. It is helping regrow some of the tissue and it is producing some pain relief for the patient. It
will also help increase some function and your range of motion to become more flexible if you are
severely injured and helps keep you out of some surgery that could lead to complications that may
happen if you would have gotten the surgery. If you watch a television show and see that a patient
may be rejecting an organ there is extremely low to no risk of rejection if you get stem cell therapy
and it helps lower the spreading of the disease and even some of the medications that you may
have to take.
 With the two sides of this issue there could be a few ways that they could have an
agreement with each other. Both sides want to have this research done the opposing side just does
not want it because of ethical issues with using embryos. If we can find a way to still have this
research and apply it using non embryonic stem cells that will help both sides get what they want.
The one side would get to continue studying and researching different techniques and therapies to
help patients who could use these and improve their way of life. While the other side would get the
use of non-embryonic cells and to use something more like adult stem cells.

Another area that they could agree on more is life. The beginning of a human life is

extremely hard to have one answer that everyone believes in. Some people argue that it starts

when the sperm fertilizes the egg and other argue it is after a few weeks like week 2 or 3. All life is

precious so depending on if you are using an embryo or if you are older and have a disease that this

therapy could help you. Everyone quality of life should be equal so with using either adult or

embryonic cells can help possible change someone’s life through stem cell therapy. Using them to

help with the pain or helping improve their quality through adding stem cells to rebuild their tissue.

It will also be saving the life of the embryos if we turn to a different solution and that will make the

opposing side feel better because they will not be killing a human life. Within the last few years

between 2011 and 2017 there was a decrease by 196,000 or 19% according to the article The U.S

Abortion Rate Continues to Drop by Elizabeth Nash and Joerg Dreweke. This shows that people are

not having as many abortions so that the quality of life will improve, and how with stem cells we are

also saving lives just in a unique way through different therapies. With each side of the argument

the over all thing is to help people and to save the lives of the babies as embryos so they can grow

up and become adults. To help save people who may need these same services for therapies and to

help improve their overall quality of life and so they can live longer and happier lives.
 Using adult stem cells will still give scientist who want to do research on the cells can

continue doing the research or do more research on the adult stem cells while they may not be

as useful or effective as embryonic stem cells, they could still get the job done. The people who

do not want the research can agree with using adult stem cells because they are not the

embryonic cells, and you are no longer killing an embryo for science and research. The adult

stem cells will still be able to give the same relieves and still be able to help rebuild the tissues.

The process may just take longer, and you might have to do it more often. All the factors that

go into the research and how they may react and how well they would work instead of the

embryonic cells just may be more research and trial an error depending on what they will be

used for. Adult stem cells can be found mostly in smaller quantities in your bone marrow and

fat. They are mostly found in the spongey center of certain bones and that is where they divide

to make the new blood cells. These adult stem cells will do the same thing as the embryonic

stem cells by becoming any other cell in the body. The one problem that we know of is how

fewer in quantity there is between the diverse types of stem cells and how that is another

reason we been doing more research on the embryonic ones. They still serve as the same

purpose to help fix damaged tissue and can divide and replenish the dying cells that there may

be in the body. According to an article by David Prentice called “Adult Stem Cells Are More

Beneficial than Embryonic Stem Cells” states that Each year there is over fifty thousand people

treated with the adult stem cells and they are showing that they are actually helping better

than the embryonic stem cells were. This is showing that even with all the research that is going

on with embryonic stem cells there is a better option, and this will also help improve peoples
feeling about them. You are no longer taking a life of an embryo you are taking cells that are

already made in your body and getting more from an outside source to help you body

regenerate the tissue that may be dead or even help a disease that you may have. To give you

better days with less pain and more want to continue doing things with your life and to no

longer must be in pain all the time. There is still a lot of research that needs to happen for this

to become available and clinical trials to evaluate out the new methods with the adult stem

cells but also by doing this research we are helping save people lives and giving them a better

quality of life.

The Other thing that these two sides could use as a compromise is that it is more cost

efficient to use adult stem cells then embryonic cells. Adult stem cells are also seemed to be

more efficient and effective. They seem to be working better since you are using your own stem

cells instead of an embryonic cell that came from somewhere else. Embryonic stem cells cost

between 5,000 through 50,000 dollars it really depends on the type of research you are doing.

Adult stem cells or really all the research that can be done is going to take some time and be a

lot more research and time and money is going to have to be put into these therapies to get

something that will work and be good for all patients. We need something that will work and

not have any serious side effects that may hurt their health in the future. Stem cells research is

a truly diverse and hard to understand field that may never be fully understood but it is a

remarkably interesting thing to know what scientist are researching about and what may

happen in the future.

Konski, Antoinette F., and Doris J.F. Spielthenner. "Stem cell patents: a landscape analysis: an
evaluation of the development of innovation in stem cell technologies by network
analysis of stem cell patent filings." Nature Biotechnology, vol. 27, no. 8, Aug. 2009, pp.
722+. Gale In Context: Opposing Viewpoints, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A206534669/OVIC?
u=dayt30401&sid=bookmark-OVIC&xid=397de7df. Accessed 7 May 2022.

Ord, Toby. "The Moral Argument Against Embryonic Stem Cell Research Is Flawed." Stem Cells,
edited by Jacqueline Langwith, Greenhaven Press, 2012. Opposing Viewpoints. Gale In
Context: Opposing Viewpoints, link.gale.com/apps/doc/EJ3010453245/OVIC?
u=dayt30401&sid=bookmark-OVIC&xid=6f66b4c4. Accessed 20 Mar. 2022. Originally
published as "Figure 1: Intrauterine life, Figure 2: Graph of survival and years since birth
and Figure 3 Graph of Mortality in the US from Conception Through Death," The
American Journal of Bioethics, pp. 12-19.