April 16, 2009
In The News: Stem Cell Research
I’m as religious as just about anyone I know. I believe in God, am personally against abortion for the most part and the death penalty on principal. I don’t see things as black and white and I don’t believe God does either.
So…stem cell research. Recently President Obama lifted the federal lending limits on stem cell research despite the angry cries from its opponents. I really didn’t understand the whole argument at first so I went searching the web to learn more about what stem cell research really entails and why people were so angry about it.
To begin with, scientists believe that stem cell research may lead to the curing of many diseases including cardiovascular disease and Alzheimer’s. Stem cells have the potential to become any cell in the body which could prove the key to reversing brain damage, regenerating bone, muscle and organs. Sounds like the research could be pretty important, huh?
So where do the scientists get the stem cells from? Here’s the problem. Stem cells are generally obtained from embryos (although research is being done to make this practice unnecessary). Pro-lifers believe that life begins at conception (fertilization) and taking stem cells from an embryo is akin to second degree homicide.
I have to agree with the scientists on this one. These embryos are comprised of only five to seven cells. In nature this embryos would barely be recognized by the body. In fact the human body kills embryos that are not meant to become viable all the time for one reason or another.
Secondly scientists get some of these human embryos from parents who had embryos created and frozen for In Vitro fertilization. At some point, some parents don’t want the remaining embryos so they donate them to research. Would it be better if they just left them there forever? Never to become anything more than a 6-cell organism? How is that honoring life?
Bef0re you form an opinion, find out as much as you can about the process behind cell stem research as well as the applications of the research.
