Stem Cell Research

Recently at my school a guest speaker visited my class, talking about Restless Leg Syndrome, or RLS. He then stumbled onto Parkinson’s disease because those people often have RLS as well, then onto the topic of stem cells. I am fully biased on this topic, coming from a background in science, and doubling in it my senior year of high school. But regardless, here is my opinion:

The controversy concerning stem cell research is highly unethical because it questions the morality of killing a human being for research. But what is actually being killed? The fetus doesn’t have all of its organs and taste buds haven’t even formed yet, so does this mean that it is ethical to kill a human embryo for research? No. However despite potential unethical controversies of stem cell research, it is possibly the key to society’s scientific progression; the many benefits from experimentation in the field greatly outweigh the disadvantages. 

Over 100,000 men, women, and children are waiting for organ transplants only in the US right now. In 2012, a mere 28,000 organ transplants were performed. A bank of about 100,000 different stem cell samples would differ so greatly genetically to match almost any patient. With this technology, the risky chances of organ transplants are eliminated as a clone of your own organ will be immediately recognized by the body. It also eliminates the long and mostly unsuccessful search for a match in a donor system.  

The research behind stem cells could also lead to advances in the fight to conquer the deadliest diseases of all time, such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease, stroke, diabetes, and improve cancer treatment. Having identified stem cells in the brain of humans, these stem cells can be used to understand how they develop and differentiate into the various types of cells in a brain. In the study of adult brain stem cells progression into cancer cell biology could be reached. Recent research proved that cancer cells multiply by a smaller amount of cancer stem cells that are able to regenerate. It may be possible to identify these new targets to eliminate the self-regenerating cancer cells. 

People love judging in hindsight, that way they can never be wrong.

Really the benefits are seemingly endless, from curing anything from hair loss to blindness and women with reproductive issues. While many people continue to question the morality of the topic, stem cell research should be supported because of the seemingly infinite amount of benefits to future generations and human society. In fact, I think the only thing unethical about stem cells is to not take a step in the right direction in the medical field, and preventing a healthier, more insightful future.