Ethcis of Stem Cell Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Ethcis of Stem Cell - Research Paper Example Anderson looks at the ethics and religious points of view on the subject. He describes how different religions have different views as to when life begins. Some Hindus for instance take the stance that life begins at 3 months after conception. Other individuals would differentiate between an embryo concieved in a human relationship and this laboratory act of creation. Ideas have altered over time. Thomas Aquinus for instance held the view, put forward earlier by Aristotle, that life began 40 days after conception.. Anderson goes on to point out that there are a number of different ideas involved. First , purely biological life which begins at conception. Secondly animation, i.e the point at which an embryo begins to move independently. Thirdly what he describes as ‘ensoulment’ i.e. the theological point at which an embryo can considered to have a soul. He also discusses such things as value - does an adult invalid have more ‘value’ than a few cells in a pert rie dish? Anderson points out the Roman Catholic Church’s stance which is that government’s have an obligation to protect the vulnerable. Surely this obligation should extend to the severely ill as well as those groups of laboratory bred cells? Duffy, D., ( 2002) Background and Legal Issues Related to Stem Cell Research, Congressional Research Service, Almanac of Policy Issues, Duffy claims that human embryonic stem cells (HESC) from embryos in their earliest stage of development are believed to be capable to transform themselves into differing body cell types than any adult stem cells. Research has therefore centered upon the potential that these cells have for the treatment to treat or mitigate the effects of various diseases as well as generating tissues which could be used to replace faulty cells or even organs. Duffy describes various sources for such cells. These are one week old blastocysts created via in vitrio fertilization; embryos of from 5 to 9 weeks obtained through elective abortion processes; embryos created in vitro purely for research purposes; embryos created by somatic cell nuclear transfer (SCNT) i.e. cloning; and finally adult stem cells such as those from bone marrow ore the umbilical cord.. Because the harvesting of such ‘master ‘cells involves the destruction of human embryos it has met much opposition by those who feel i t is unjustified slaughter of potential human beings. It must however be pointed out that these are embryos bred in a laboratory and which whould never have come into existance otherwise, so this is very different from an abortion done perhaps only for reasons of social convenience. In 2002 , according to Duffy, the American Government announced that, with a number of restrictions, federal funds would be made available for stem cell research, but this would be with established strains.