Resources and Stem Cell Research

             The article highlights the innuendos of President Bush's role in the lack of funding for stem cell research and the stiff limitations the field is plagued with. Whether or not you agree with all of the practices of stem cell research, the article is very informative of its uses. It outlines the industry's reaction to the lack of federal funding, where private funding cannot be spent, and the limitations set forth by the Bush administration.
             We can use stem cells drawn from a living person (adult stem cells) or extract them from embryos. The latter does not harm the live person, while extracting them from the embryo causes the embryo to die, becoming a baby if otherwise implanted in the woman's uterus. Stem cells are organs of the body's immune and blood system and maybe the origin of other organs and essential systems in the body. Other body parts can be regenerated by stem cells; this is why the research and funding supporting that research is pivotal. President Bush stated that sixty genetically diverse cell lines exist and are ready for research. He limited the researchers to these sixty lines and took no other approach on the matter in the sense of condoning or condemning it. Bush was misinformed, however, because only one lone cell line was available for distribution. Dr. Elias Zerhouni pushed for scientists to have access to every cell line available. Zerhouni coerced scientists to expand the existing cell line and volunteered to fund labs to culture the lines. To date, this has brought the number of genetically diverse cell lines to a total of twenty-three.
             This would help researchers such as Jon Ordico, who praise the use of stem cells in the fight against diabetes which amounts to about 30,000 new cases a year. The usual treatment method is to use human cadavers to harvest and then transplant insulin-producing cells into the patient. However, only 6,000 to 8,000 human cadaver organs are available each year. Stem cells c...

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Resources and Stem Cell Research. (1969, December 31). In MegaEssays.com. Retrieved 02:07, March 29, 2024, from https://www.megaessays.com/viewpaper/9753.html