Embryonic Stem Cell Research
Embryonic stem cell research is a major controversial issue that is, in fact, "one
of the most profound of our time" ("Bush Announces Position on Stem Cell Research").
Stem cells are essentially primordial cells of a human being which are capable of
becoming all or many of the 260 different kinds of cells in the human body. These cells
have traditionally been defined as not fully determined yet to be any certain type of cell
or tissue. Although these cells have been classified into three groups–embryonic, fetal,
and adult–only the use of adult and some fetal stem cells have been fully approved for
research ("Stem Cells used to Produce Human Blood").
Many citizens wonder what the purpose of embryonic stem cell research is and
why it is such a controversial issue. The three major goals for pursuing this research
are: gaining important scientific knowledge about embryonic development, curing
debilitating diseases, and expanding and enhancing the human life. The main reason
why embryonic stem cell analyzation is such an issue is because most commentators
argue that the research is ethically unacceptable. Thus, the use of embryonic stem
cells is being debated all across the world. I, however, believe it is appropriate to
conduct stem cell research using human embryos.
Stem cell research is crucial to gaining important scientific knowledge about
embryonic development. Detailed information on the stages of embryonic development
may help researchers learn more about human embryos. Better methods of detecting
problems concerning the chromosomes of embryos could be unearthed. Scientists
could possibly discover "why things go wrong during pregnancy" and how to prevent
those things from happening (Olsen). Evidence from stem cell research may prove or
contradict previous knowledge gained fro...