Against 2 Debates 2009 School Carpe Diem

Good afternoon ladies and gentleman. My name's Sofia Castilla. I am the second speaker in the opposition team.

R: Adult Stem Cells researchers insist that they can do the much of same as ESC without the controversy or cheapening the value of human life. Embryonic Stem Cells are of interest to scientists for their medical potential – but the information is conjecture; whereas, Adult Stem Cells have a proven track record of scientific success and none of the ethical problems.

E: One of the major issues at the center of the ESC debate is the fact that it remains a theory.

• None of the science is proven – and all the research has been done, with mixed results of success and failure, on animals.
  • However, there are already plans by researchers to create a Stem Cell “infrastructure.”
  • Many of these researchers propose the idea of creating a public store of stem cells . . .
  • However, the storage of stem cells is expensive, even if stem cell medicine and research were supplemented by the government.
• So, in the future, to what extent is this expensive endeavor saved only for the people who can pay for it? Will this be an “infrasctucture for the elite.”
• And if the medical treatment is supplemented by the government, how many people need to use Embryonic Stem Cells before the expense becomes justifiable?
  • It is easy to see the direction this is following . . . are Embryonic Stem Cells the property of the elite, and rich . . . ?

A: Adult Stem Cells have a proven track record of curing diseases. Fundamentally, they are simpler, and more specific; therefore easier to manipulate – and they have been used since the 1940's in bone marrow transplants.

• ESC are more complex and difficult, therefore, en masse, this science is expensive.
• One important example of the future of the expense is Umbilical Cord Stem cells. A type of stem cell that offers promise, without the ESC controversy, and are stored with the future goal of curing diseases such as cancer, Parkinson’s and diabetes.
  • These cells are stored in private stem cells storage, which can be accessed only by people with a high purchasing power, as the storage of stem cells requires specialized care.
  • This is only a glimpse into the future of the elite Embryonic Stem Cell market. In which major amounts of research and specialized storage create additional cost.
• And, mentioned in our last argument, due to the elite nature of ESC and its cost, many poor people desperate for money will very likely look into selling their eggs and fetus' to research companies. Another forseeable byproduct of the presumeably innocent Embryonic Stem Cell Market.

L: Adult Stem Cells offer many advantages over that of ESC. Covered earlier, there are no ethical debates. You can use ASC without ever questioning your motive. The cost is kept l ow by the simple nature of donation. Adults can donate stem cells for others, or harvest their own for use on themselves. There is no business market for harvest-able embryos. ASC have been successful for the last 70 years in the form of Bone Marrow transplants – so the conjecture has given way to proof. My goal for presenting this evidence was to create a pressing question: Do we need the deaths of babies or the sale of dead fetus' on our hands in order to achieve a science that can already be utilized with the use of stem cells from adults? We can avoid any ethical questions and still achieve the same results with the use of Adult Stem Cells.