Stem cell research has been at the forefront of many ethical debates in recent years. The manners in which the cells must be harvested and their usage for advancement in biomedical research along with the use of federal funds to finance the ongoing research has proven to be a debate that is not easily resolved even with the revolutionary advances in the treatment and prevention of disease, injury and birth defects. The benefits of continuing this critical quest far outweigh the negative effects proposed from moral and ethical activists who at times may seem hypocritical on this grave issue. Many of those who oppose ongoing research do so because of a religious standpoint regarding life and how much respect an embryo should be awarded. Yet, many of those same individuals acknowledge and approve of in vitro fertilization (the implantation of a human embryo created in a Petri dish) for those who are genetically incapable of having children. Who gets to decide when religious bounds have been crossed and to which religion in the scientific community do we allow these bounds to be standardized upon?
The United States Policy on human stem cell research as articulated by President Bush on August 9, 2001 is as follows:
Permits federal funding only for research using cells from approximately 60 stem cell
lines identified by the National Institute of Health as having been derived from excess
human embryos prior to the August 9 announcement. There is currently no federal law or
policy prohibiting the private sector from creating stem cells by in vitro fertilization or by
the SCNT technique for the purpose of research.
The policy of most individual states also permits private funding for the use of embryonic stem cells for the purpose of research, although a few states have banned the continuation of research techniques.
To understand the issues surrounding stem cell research, it is important to first understand what a stem cell is, which typ...