Ethical concerns of using stem cells for medical treatments
In the modern world there have been many diseases, illnesses and epidemics that have been avoided due to the development of technology. One of the most recent successful developments have involved the research into stem cells. Stem cells are cells which can specialize into many different types of cells, they are known as totipotent cells. Scientists have found that it is possible to harvest organs, such as, livers, hearts, and lungs.
Or remake dead cells which have been deceased from various illnesses, such as dead brain cells, that could be re-grown and cure diseases such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s.
Some people may see this is a good thing as it could help many unfortunate people who have genuine diseases. But many people have raised ethical concerns about the research procedure involved. The procedure involves an embryo’s nucleus being taken out and replaced by the nucleus of the cells which need to be reproduced. This process is known as nuclear transfer. A very famous experiment conducted via nuclear transfer was the birth of Dolly the sheep; a mammary cell nucleus was taken and added to the embryo, which was then added to the uterus of a ewe and then in February 1997, Dolly’s mother gave birth. The cloning was successful but some people say she died at an early age because she was cloned, whilst others argue that she died because she was affected by the retrovirus JSRV. This is very common in sheep and causes many of them to die.
Some people argue that using embryos is very unethical, as it involves tampering with God’s creations. Many people believe that embryos are human beings that also have rights and do not deserve to be killed or employed for medical reasons. Some people also argue that people may go too far with cloning, which may result in evil doings.
Dr. Piete who is a member of the European Parliament stated, “The cloning of embryos would be like a bursting dam…… Once human...