Pros and Cons of Stem Cell Research

Pros (For) of Stem cell research

Medical
1.- Their ability to grow into almost any kind of cell.
2.-Stem cell research can potentially help treating a range of medical problems. It could lead us closer to cure:
Parkinson’s Disease

Alzheimer’s Disease

Heart Diseases, Stroke and Diabetes (Type 1)

Birth Defects

Spinal Cord Injuries
Replace or Repair Damaged Organs

Reduced Risk of Transplantation (You could possibly get a copy of your own heart in a heart-transplantation in the future

3.-Donation of umbilical cells is highly encouraged.
4.-There are three main sources for obtaining stem cells - adult cells, cord cells, and embryonic cells.
5.-The umbilical cord is by far the richest source of stem cells, and cells can be stored up in advance so they are available when needed.

Ethical

1.-"The benefits of stem cell research has such a great outcome, that it outweighs the ethical issues." (Cost-benefit-analysis)
2.-"If someone is going to have an abortion, isn’t it better that we use it for something useful?"

3.-Adult stem cells would not be that interesting because they do not have the same properties as stem cells from a fetus.

Cons (against) of Stem Cell Research
Medical
1.- The more distant the relationship, the more likely it is that the cells will be rejected by the immune system's antibodies, when using cord cells.
2.-Bone marrow is a rich source of stem cells. However, some painful destruction of the bone marrow results from this procedure.
3.-Embryonic stem cells are extracted directly from an embryo before the embryo's cells begin to differentiate. Those who value human life from the point of conception, oppose embryonic stem cell research because the extraction of stem cells from this type of an embryo requires its destruction.
4.-Embryonic stem cells stored over time have been shown to create the type of chromosomal anomalies that create cancer cells
5.-Mice treated for Parkinson's with embryonic stem cells have died from brain tumors in as much as 20% of cases.

Ethical
1.-"A life is a life and that should never be compromised. A fertilized egg should be valued as a human life even if it is in its very first weeks. Destroying human life in the hopes of saving human life is not ethical."
2.-The scientific value has been overstated or has flaws. For example we do not know for sure that we can use stem cells to clone organs to be transplanted to oneself.
3.-Both an abortion and someone dying, suffering from a major disease is a tragedy, which have the highest value? Does a breakthrough in the research justify the methods?