Embryonic Stem Cell Research Pros and Cons of Stem Cell Research Embryonic Stem Cell Research is a controversial topic throughout the world. There are many pros and cons of stem cell research. Many people believe that embryonic stem cells hold the key to developing therapeutic treatments for a wide variety of life destroying illnesses including Parkinson's disease, diabetes, cancer, spinal cord injuries, muscle damage, Purkinje cell degeneration, Duchenne's muscular dystrophy, heart disease, and vision and hearing loss. Even though stem cell therapy holds promise in helping millions of people enjoy better lives there is still great concern regarding the ethics of stem cell research. Stem cell debate issues are constantly in the news especially when treatments such as stem cell transplants or stem cell therapy are hot topics. Still, there are many people who decide to use the services of companies that specialize in areas such as banking their newborn's stem cell cord blood in the hopes that it could possibly help their child later on in life.

The following information is from the United States Government Fact Sheet on Embryonic Stem Cell Research. Their website (which also includes the history of stem cell reasearch) can be found at http://whitehouse.gov. For more information and additional resources, you'll find a variety of links included on this site.

Adult stem cells - - Adult stem cells are unspecialized, can renew themselves, and can become specialized to yield all of the cell types of the tissue from which they originate. Although scientists believe that some adult stem cells from one tissue can develop into cells of another tissue, no adult stem cell has been shown in culture to be pluripotent.

The potential of embryonic stem cell research - - Many scientists believe that embryonic stem cell research may eventually lead to therapies that could be used to treat diseases that afflict approximately 128 million Americans. Treatments may include replacing destroyed dopamine-secreting neurons in a Parkinson's patient's brain; transplanting insulin-producing pancreatic beta cells in diabetic patients; and infusing cardiac muscle cells in a heart damaged by myocardial infarction. Embryonic stem cells may also be used to understand basic biology and to evaluate the safety and efficacy of new medicines.

The creation of embryonic stem cells - - To create embryonic stem cells for research, a "stem cell line" must be created from the inner cell mass of a week-old embryo. If they are cultured properly, embryonic stem cells can grow and divide indefinitely. A stem cell line is a mass of cells descended from the original, sharing its genetic characteristics. Batches of cells can then be separated from the cell line and distributed to researchers.

The origin of embryonic stem cells - - Embryonic stem cells are derived from excess embryos created in the course of infertility treatment. As a result of standard in vitro fertilization practices, many excess human embryos are created. Participants in IVF treatment must ultimately decide the disposition of these excess embryos, and many individuals have donated their excess embryos for research purposes.

Existing stem cell lines. - - There are currently more than 60 existing different human embryonic stem cell lines that have been developed from excess embryos created for in vitro fertilization with the consent of the donors and without financial inducement. These existing lines are used in approximately one dozen laboratories around the world (in the United States, Australia, India, Israel, and Sweden).

Therapies from adult and embryonic stem cell research - - To date, adult stem cell research, which is federally-funded, has resulted in the development of a variety of therapeutic treatments for diseases. Although embryonic stem cell research has not yet produced similar results, many scientists believe embryonic stem cell research holds promise over time because of the capacity of embryonic stem cells to develop into any tissue in the human body.

Additional Resources:

NIH Stem Cell Information http://stemcells.nih.gov

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