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ABSTRACT
Recently, stem cell research has become a prominent ethical issue in science
and medicine. This report is largely informative, describing what stem cells
are, how they are researched, and the role they could potentially play in
disease treatment. The arguments for and against embryonic stem cell
research are also presented in this report. Embryonic stem cells are
pluripotent and are derived from an early embryo in the blastocyst stage.
Many consider this type of stem cell research unethical because of the moral
debate over the status of the embryo. Researchers believe these cells hold
great potential for disease treatment, but embryonic stem cells have not yet
been effective in clinical treatments. Adult stem cells are taken directly from
adult tissues and are considered multipotent, but may be pluripotent according
to the theory of stem cell plasticity. These stem cells, although believed to be
more difficult to use, have been used successfully in many clinical treatments.
The federal government has provided a compromise with the current stem cell
legislation, which is also discussed in this report.
Keywords: medical ethics, embryonic stem cells, adult stem cells, pluripotent,
multipotent, stem cell legislation
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CONTENTS
List of Illustrations…………………………….……………………. . . ………………iv
Introduction…………………………………………………………………………………1
Part 1: Defining Stem Cells… .............................................................................2
Characteristics…………...………………………………………………………..2
Types of Stem Cells………………..……………………………………………..2
Embryonic Stem Cells…………..……………………………………..2
Fetal Stem Cells………………………………………………………... . 3
Adult Stem Cells……………………………………………………………3
Part 2: Researching Stem Cells………………………………………………….....4
Sources of Embryos......………………………………………………………...4
Stem Cell Isolation…….…………………………………………......................4
The Importance of Stem Cells..……...………………………….....................5
Drug Research…………………………………………………………….5
Research on Human Development……………………………………..5
Disease Treatment……………………………………………………….5
Part 3: The Ethical Debate………………………………………………………........6
Overview……………………………………………………………………………6
The Opponents of Embryonic Stem Cell Research……………………......6
Argument 1……………………………………………………………….6
Argument 2……………………………………………………………….7
Argument 3……………………………………………………………….8
Adult Stem Cells………………………………………………………………..8
The Alternative to Embryonic Stem Cell Research?.........................8
Limitations of Adult Stem Cells……………………………………….10
The Proponents of Embryonic Stem Cell Research………………………10
Arguments for Embryonic Stem Cell Research……………………..10
Limitations of Embryonic Stem Cell Research……………………….11
Part 4: Current Stem Cell Legislation…………………………………………...12
Conclusion……………………………………………………………………………….13
Cited References…………………………………………………………..14
Appendices
A: Figure 1.2: Development of the Zygote………...…………………...20
B: Figure 2.2: Stem Cell Cultivation…...………………………………21
C: Figure 4: Summary……......………………………………….........22
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List of Illustrations
Title page photo:
Neural Cells grown from embryonic stem cells
Figure 1.1
Blastocyst and inner cell mass………………………………...3
Figure 1.2
Development of the Zygote……………………………….....20
Figure 2.1
Isolation of stem cells from an embryo…………………….....4
Figure 2.2
Stem Cell Cultivation……………………………………......21
Figure 3
Conditions positively affected by stem cell therapy………......9
Figure 4
Summary……………………………………………………..22
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