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James Allaman
Aughenbaugh
English 12
13 March 2015
Pro Stem Cell Research
The current problem when it comes to stem cell research is that so many individuals find
it morally wrong, especially when embryonic stem cells come into the situation. Stem cell
research shouldn't be looked at as wrong or be blindly ignored, it should be embraced so
scientists can unlock stem cells many uses. People should see that what they think is morally
wrong balances with the rightness of stem cell research. Many people in the world find stem cell
research morally wrong even though it has a high potential of treating and curing diseases that
will save many lives.
Historically stem cell research has been held back by laws that restrict it do to the amount
of complaints by people who believe it is morally wrong on many aspects such as religion and
internal feelings. "In 2001 the US government banned federal funding of certain types of stem
cell research"(STOV). Adult stem cell research was supported, but no federal funds were
allowed towards the research of embryonic stem cells. Some states such as California created
funding programs for the research of embryonic stem cells. Congress passed legislation that
lifted President Bush's ban in 2006 and 2007, but both were vetoed. The United States is
criticized for their stem cell policy because the US is behind other countries in biomedical
research. This seems more morally wrong than the actual research of embryonic stem cells.
Many people don't know the full potential of stem cells, because they are lacking the knowledge

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about the topic. "A study was conducted in Istanbul; it consisted of 334 pregnant women during
regular prenatal visits. Data was collected by the researchers by using an interview form. This
form included characteristics of the women and 20 questions about stem cells. The results of this
exercise were that the majority of the women had a lack of knowledge about stem cells and they
wanted more information about the topic."(PWK)
Stem cell research shouldn't be looked at as morally wrong because of the many benefits
it holds. Stem cells have the amazing potential to cure many life threatening diseases. "Some of
these diseases are Chronic Myelogenous Leukemia, which is a disease that the bone marrow
makes too many white blood cells. Sickle Cell Disease is a disorder in which the body makes
sickle-shaped red blood cells. Breast Cancer, malignant tumor that starts in the cells of the
breast"(MSC). These are all very serious life threatening diseases that can be treated using stem
cells. Stem cell research shouldn't be labeled as morally wrong because it can save many lives
and the moral reason should balance out with one another. Stem cell research would save many
more lives than lives that are being destroyed. People need to look past the destruction of
embryos and see the benefits stem cells have for the human race and animal kingdom alike.
Most people believe that all stem cells come from embryos. That just includes only one type of
stem cell which is an embryonic stem cell. There are also adult stem cells that come from the
adult human body. A lot of research has been going into adult stem cells and the benefits they
hold. Adult stem cells shouldn't be morally wrong because it doesn't have anything to do with
the destruction of embryonic stem cells. Adult stem cells are found among differentiated cells in
a tissue or organ that can renew it self. The study and use of adult stem cells shouldn't spark any
morally wrong feeling considering it isn't harming anything or anybody.
Stem Cells have the potential to cure many diseases that will save many lives. There is a

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list that seems almost unending regarding the amount of diseases and health problems that can be
completely cured through the use of stem cells. One of the biggest points is stem cells having
the potential to regenerate human body parts. This can be so incredibly useful to amazing.
People that have been paralyzed could become normal again through the use of stem cells by
rebuilding damaged spinal cord. This could be very beneficial to society and the economy of the
world because it would get people back on their feet back into the work force and making more
purchases. People that have gotten into car accidents or work-related incidents that have lost a
limb or a body part could have it repaired and working smoothly again. This would greatly
decrease human fatality rates when it comes to crashes or any accident at all. Another huge
"potential factor stem cells have is the possibility to cure Alzheimers disease or
dementia"(ASC). This could be a large step for society because it would cure a lot of the world's
elders from Alzheimers disease and it would stop a lot of heart ache over what could have
happened to their loved ones. Loss of memory, motor skills, and basically the loss of their whole
reality would be abolished just because of microscopic stem cells. A lot of people in this world
will come to terms with a disease in their lifetime and many of these diseases are life threatening
and there are currently no cures for them except for the medicinal uses stem cells.
There are alternatives to embryonic stem cells that many people will not have moral
issues with. Many people have moral problems when it comes to embryonic stem cell research
and the destruction of embryos. There are different options other than embryonic stem cells,
such as adult stem cells and another type of stem cell called a pluripotent stem cell. Adult stem
cells come from the adult human body. These can be used to regenerate that specific human's
body parts. If your leg gets removed from your body from an accident and can't get reattached,
your own personal adult stem cells could potentially regenerate it or any one of your body parts

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for that matter. These can be beneficial to society because it really isn't morally wrong and it is
beneficial to the well-being of humans. Another type of stem cell is a "pluripotent stem cell,
which is an adult stem cell that has been genetically reprogrammed to an embryonic stem cell
like state" (SCB). Pluripotent stem cells have amazing potential because they have the
characteristics of embryonic stem cells. This would be great for both scientists that want to work
with embryonic stem cells and people that don't like the research of embryonic stem cells.
Pluripotent stem cells can achieve the same goals that embryonic stem cells can such as curing a
lot of life threatening diseases and the regeneration of the human body. People should educate
themselves on the topic of pluripotent stem cells, which is a genetically reprogrammed adult cell.
Cloning could be very beneficial to humans. One amazing benefit of cloning is humans
could make an exact copy of themselves in order to potentially take one of their body parts for
transplant. Scientists could make an exact copy of a human and replace a bad body part of the
original person. Somebody could be missing a lot of important body parts from an accident and
could be regenerated and cloned in a lab and then given to that person and it would be a perfect
match. The body wouldn't reject that body part because it would be an absolute match to the
original body. Humans could potentially live a lot longer if everybody had a perfect copy of
themselves for extra body parts for transplant. Humans could learn a lot about ourselves with the
use of clones. We could see how humans will react in the wild by themselves with nobody
around, and scientists could do a lot of simulations with real clones resulting in very accurate
data. An exact human clone doesn't have to be made. Body parts such as a heart, leg, or an arm
could be made and generated in a lab for transplant without an entire human copy being created.
Scientists could make all different types of body parts and organs for human transplant to save
thousands of lives each year.

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Many people in the world find stem cell research morally wrong even though it has a
high potential of treating and curing diseases that will save many lives. The next steps the world
needs to take in order for stem cells to truly flourish is society needs the correct knowledge on
stem cell research, so they can see the benefits of stem cells and see the morally right alternatives
to embryonic stem cell research. Which are pluripotent stem cells and adult stem cells. People
need to look past the reasons why they think embryonic research is wrong, even if it is due to
religion or just personal moral feelings. Stem Cells should be a modern medicine for the
treatment of possibly thousands of diseases that the human body can fall ill to. If humans really
learned all of the benefits to stem cells and dig deeper under the surface, society should be able
to flourish even more without the worry of many modern diseases.

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Work Cited
"Adult Stem Cells." Www.neostem.com. N.p., 2015. Web. 13 Mar. 2015.
"Pregnant Women's Knowledge and Attitudes about Stem Cells and Cord Blood Banking." N.p.,
Jan. 2009. Web. 13 Mar. 2015.
"Stem Cells." Opposing Viewpoints Online Collection. Detroit: Gale, 2015. Opposing
Viewpoints in Context. Web. 12 Mar. 2015.
Stem Cell Basics: Introduction. In Stem Cell Information [World Wide Web site]. Bethesda, MD:
National Institutes of Health, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 2015 [cited
Friday, March 13, 2015] Available at <http://stemcells.nih.gov/info/basics/pages/basics1.aspx>
"The Miracle of Stem Cells." The Miracle of Stem Cells (n.d.): n. pag. Web. 13 Mar. 2015.