Stem cells have a major role in the biological processes. Because of the ability of the stem cells to divide, they are important in the development of an organism and repair of damaged tissues. Stem cells have the potential to treat degenerative diseases like diabetes, Parkinson’s and heart disease.
The unique characteristics of stem cells include its ability to divide, replicate and renew themselves for long periods. They are unspecialized; thus, they can produce specialized cell types. They can differentiate into other cells. Stem cells have regenerative abilities which make it useful in therapeutic interventions. They can produce more stem cells. Stem cells vary depending on the degree of plasticity and developmental versatility (Hui, Tang, et al).
Embyronic stem cells are cells that come from an embryo before all the cell types of the bodies are formed, because they are pluripotent. It has greater potentials because they can produce a broad spectrum of cell types for a certain tissue. On the contrary, adult stem cells or somatic stem cells may only differentiate into different cell types of their tissue of origin. Because of this, it is believed that adult stem cells have a lower therapeutic potential than the embryonic stem cells.
Embryonic stem cells are mostly derived from embryos that develop from eggs fertilized through in vitro fertilization clinics, which were not used. On the other hand, adult stem cells are found in many organs and tissues, including the brain, bone marrow, peripheral blood, blood vessels, skeletal muscle, skin, teeth, heart, gut, liver, ovarian epithelium, and testis.
Adult stem cells are said to have a greater possibility of developing genetic abnormalities over time unlike embryonic stem cells. Adult stem cells also do not replicate as efficiently as embryonic stem cells. Other characteristics of adult stem cells are plasticity and transdifferentiation. Plasticity is the ability of the adult stem cell to expand their potential beyond the tissue where they come from. When one cell is directly converted to another type of cell, it is considered as transdifferentiation .
There are several potential benefits for embryonic stem cell research. The major benefit of embryonic stem cell research is that it can be developed into any type of cell in the body, whether it is a nerve, blood or tissue. Embryonic stem cells are probable therapies of degenerative diseases like Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s Tissue replacement after an injury or a disease is possible with embryonic stem cells. It is particularly promising in diabetes, cancer, cardiovascular diseases and spinal cord injury. Another potential benefit of embryonic stem cells is that it will aid doctors in preventing birth defects. They will be able to determine at what point the cells mutate to form a birth defect. Moreover, through embryonic stem cell research, scientists can do further research on treatments on various diseases without the use of humans or animals. Studies have also shown that the aging process and the injuries related to it can be slowed down through embryonic stem cell research. Cloning is another area where embryonic stem cell research is relevant. Since the embryonic stem cells contain every cell in the body, scientists can manipulate it to produce an exact clone of an organ or limb.
The controversy surrounding the issue of governmental funding of embryonic stem cell research emanates from the ethical issues surrounding it. There are some methods of harvesting stem cells that damages the embryo. Some people believe that destroying the embryos is tantamount to abortion. According to the opponents of embryonic stem cells, there is still a possibility that even the induced pluripotent stem cells can still develop into a human embryo. The main question therefore that hounds embryonic stem cell research is at what point does life begins.
One other concern of embryonic stem cell research is its tendency to produce teratomas and malignant carcinomas. Transplant rejections and the formation of undirected types of cells are some reasons why government funding on embryonic stem cell research remains controversial. Since the funding from embryonic stem cell research comes from the taxpayers, government thinks that it is not right because some taxpayers are not convinced that the research should continue.
The Obama Administration in 2009 allowed for government funding for embryonic stem cell research provided that they were created from existing discarded embryos from in vitro fertilization that are no longer used. Donor consent is also required.
The direction towards stem cell research has still a lot of obstacles to face. What is essential is to determine whether the benefits outweigh the disadvantages with regards to stem cell research. If government decides to give substantial funding to the research, it must convince the taxpayers that in the long run, the people will gain from the potentials of stem cell research, barring the ethical concerns.
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