So far bone marrow transplants have been very successful in medicine; bone marrow transplants were first used from two siblings in 1968 to cure severe combined immunodeficiency. One ongoing study used embryonic neurons to implant into people suffering from the Parkinson’s disease, the study had found that some inserted cells survived for more than 12 years and had great improvement [1]. Stem cells have the ability to generate new functional blood cells in patient suffering from blood diseases [1]. Production of cells from a range of white blood cells, red blood cells and platelets involved in blood clotting.
Due to the improvement some scientist’s have hope to use similar strategies in the cure of the Alzheimer’s disease. Although some studies have been successful some have realised that mouse models have not
always been useful for research. Apart from therapeutic uses, stem cells have been used for cloning purposes for a number of years. Cloning has been carried out for reproductive purposes, embryonic purposes and has cloned a number of species. Using ‘somatic cell nuclear transfer’ scientists have created genetically identical animals such as the first successfully cloned sheep ‘dolly the sheep [7]’. Dolly the sheep had shown great significance, the adult genetic material from specific adult cell was reprogrammed to grow on the complete organism [7]. Adult stem cell cloning has cloned a number of other species that include tadpole, cat “copycat”, horse etc.
My view on this is that the research which took place for the cloned sheep “dolly the sheep” was invaluable. It was not appropriate for scientists to clone this sheep because there was no clear aim or objective for this matter. Dolly the sheep was a practical test to see how scientists can use the power and knowledge of DNA to make such an organism. It was a waste of time, money and effort which could have been useful towards research on curing diseases.
Stem cells have been useful in in-vitro fertilisation (IVF) methods. Married couples that unfortunate to have normal pregnancies are able to have in-vitro fertilisation using the husband’s sperm. The technique was first successful in 1978 and now approximately one in eighty babies is born through IVF. This issue shall be considered as if the embryo which is formed within a few days after an artificial fertilisation is known as a human being. I believe an embryo is very valuable and has every potential to grow into a human being, but is not yet considered as a human being. There is a big difference between an embryo in the body of a human and an embryo in a dish that has been developed initially in a laboratory. Yes, the embryo in the human being will become into life and if it’s destroyed inside the body then this will be abortion. However, having an excess of embryos in a dish ready for reproduction is a different story. This is because no one treats these embryos as humans and the remaining embryos will be frozen or destroyed. On the other hand, if these embryos were treated as humans, than it would have been prohibited to produce them in access and to demolish them later. Destroying such embryos cannot be considered as abortion.
Future possibilities of stem cells in therapeutic benefits hope for technology derived stem cells in the treatment of a wide range of diseases such as Parkinson disease, muscle damage, spinal cord injuries and other impairments [4]. The controversy of embryonic stem cell research has made in an impact in scientific research due the destruction of embryos. Despite this research has provided alternative significant medical potential such as preimplantation genetic diagnosis and in vitro fertilization methods. Some have also oppose embryonic stem cell research based on religious grounds, many Catholics for example, take the view that from moments of conceptions an embryo is a human being with a soul and that using these embryos is like dismembering a person. However there are number views that oppose to the matter, some believe that
an individual human being does not truly arise until the embryo has implanted into the wall of the mothers womb at around 14 days. In fact ‘theorists’ once believed that life begins at the moment the sperm meets the egg and that the single cell deserves sacred rights. The second issue is ‘religious views’, some say it is not acceptable to destroy an embryo even for medical research purposes. Muslim jurists believe there is a clear distinction between the early and later stages of pregnancy. They believe the that the embryo is a life with growing organs resembling a human form by the sixth week, so it is therefore not right to destroy such life. However in the other hand Islam/Christianity have now accepted in-vitro fertilization methods, but with questions still arising whether the embryo formed within a few days not present in the women’s womb is considered a human with human rights [10].
All these religious views play a part in the saying of embryos being human beings or not being human beings. I believe that it is all right for scientists to destroy embryos when carrying out their research. This is because an embryo at such an early stage is not a human being and without it being inside the mother’s womb, it will not survive and therefore not become a living organism. In fact there shouldn’t be any conflicts with the idea of destroying embryos in order to carry out research of treating diseases because this type of research will become very beneficial. Every year 1000 embryos are wasted in fertility clinics, which is inconvenient because these embryos could be used for carrying out important research. The use of embryonic stem cells should be limited and adult stem cells should be used as an alternative. However adult stem cells are not nearly useful as embryonic stem cells in their ability to distinguish into different cell kinds. This means adult stem cells may not be so appropriate to use when treating thousands of diseases.
Finally in conclusion although there are a considerable number of problems stem cell research has faced but with the techniques used so far and forth coming technology it may be hopefully possible to develop new advance therapies for serious diseases which have not been researched yet. The religious views from a number of cultures I feel is completely reasonable, I believe cells are our structural and functional building blocks of life they should be used for beneficial transplantation uses. Stem cells should be used for only therapeutic uses (treatment of birth-defects, diabetes, spinal cord injuries, burns and cardiac disease) and not for research with no purpose. I believe embryonic stem cells should be available in limits and be used for good reasons such as treating diseases and giving the opportunity for a couple to have a baby. Scientists should ensure there is consent from the donors and safeguards against financial compensation to embryo donors are provided. Further research on stem cells I believe should be encouraged but with improved isolation methods. It is also to promote the research on alternative adult stem cells instead of only using embryonic stem cells. Using adult stem cells have less controversy, thus they may not hold as much promise as embryonic stem cells.