The Ethics and Potential of Stem Cell Research

In the UK, in the late 1790s, physician Edward Jenner discovered how to vaccinate people with smallpox vaccine. About 190 years later in 1980, it was declared that smallpox was eradicated (Edward Jenner). Today, humans keep track of Jenner's footprints and continue working to treat and eradicate diseases threatening people around the world. Unfortunately, vaccines and antibiotics are not necessarily effective, and scientists need to find new ways to treat diseases that have not yet cured, such as Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease, diabetes.

Scientists are interested in the potential of stem cells to produce new brain cells for Parkinson's disease for a while. Recently, a method for converting normal adult cells (eg skin cells) into stem cells (artificially pluripotent stem cells or iPSc) has been developed. From there, these stem cells can become a type of dopamine, thereby losing brain cells in this state. To test the performance of the cells, researchers used brain scan. They found that the cells function like normal dopamine-producing brain cells and successfully produce dopamine. Later on they were able to confirm that the transplanted cells survived, and more importantly they were integrated into existing neural networks - become part of the brain function of the primates Was

As the various arguments in this paper show, the discussion about embryonic stem cell research is a multifaceted scientific, moral, ethical, and political problem. Embryonic stem cells are multipotent and self-replicating in nature and are of great value to scientific researchers seeking a better understanding of diseases that are difficult to treat, regenerative medicine, or early human development. Different perspectives on the state of embryonic ethics answer this question in different ways, but if the way to obtain embryonic stem cells is moral these The results of stem cells are also ethical. For example, if the provided eggs are fertilized in the laboratory for future research purposes, the resulting study is morally justified.

Human embryonic stem cells go into regenerative medicine. The use of human embryonic stem cells poses different ethical problems. Application of these cells can be applied to tissue engineering, genetic engineering and other medical research purposes. Although the use of adult stem cells is not controversial, the use of human embryonic stem cells poses different ethical issues based on cellular origin. (Hug, the source of human embryonic stem cell research, 2005)