Question

Opinions on Bioethical Issues

Write your personal opinion regarding the following bioethical issues. After writing your opinion, consider differing opinions by writing a brief opposing argument. You should be able to express your views logically and provide reasons for your views on the subjected/issue selected.

Choose only one of the following bioethical issues. Remember you must also provide an opposing argument.

Dialog used during your interaction with instructor(s) and peers should be done while remaining civil and respectful of different points of views, which is all part of the learning experience. Re-read your own posts before you submit them, to make sure you aren’t coming across the wrong way.

Example:

Many people believe that having an abortion is not morally acceptable, however, many also believe that it is a free choice and that women should be allowed to seek abortion in cases of desperation such as rape, poverty, and or violence.

1. abortion

2. stem cell research

3. human cloning

4. genetic counseling

5. physician-assisted suicide

Answer 1

Stem cell research

For the topic :

One of the main pros of stem cell research is the fact that the researchers have determined that there are many ways to obtain these cells from the human body, during both childhood and adulthood. In fact, during the last decades, the stem cells have been obtained from many sources in the body, including bone marrow cells, cord blood cells and even manipulating some differentiated cells to return them to a pluripotential/multipotential state.This means that stem cells are accessible, and they can be obtained by both invasive and non-invasive methods.

The researchers say that pluripotent stem cells can be obtained from human embryos that only have a few days of being conceived that is the embryonic stem cells. On the other hand, multipotent stem cells can be obtained from adults and from the umbilical cord blood of newborns.

Another advantage of embryonic stem cells is the fact that they can grow indefinitely when they are under ideal conditions in a specialized laboratory, while non-embryonic stem cells have the contra that they have a limited capacity of proliferation.

Determined by stem cell research is the fact that these cells can be effectively used as an important part of the regenerative medicine. It represents a huge advance in medicine because it can mean a definite treatment for chronic diseases such as cancer (all types), Diabetes, neurological injuries and illness, Alzheimer’s, Multiple Sclerosis, Parkinson’s,and others.Stem cells research is the fact that among the wide range of diseases that can be treated with this therapy, Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s Disease, different types of cancer and their comorbidities, Diabetes Mellitus type 1, heart diseases, strokes, spinal cord and other neurological injuries, replace or repair damaged organs, reduce the risk of developing a transplant rejection, among others can be included. Remember that only a qualified doctor can determine if a patient is a good candidate to undergo a stem cell therapy.

Against the topic:

One of the main disadvantages of stem cell research is that using embryogenic stem cells is considered unacceptable by the laws of many countries and many religion and cultures. This is because to obtain this type of stem cells, the researchers must destroy a blastocyst, which is defined as an embryo obtained from human egg fertilization which has been left to develop until day 5 or 6. So, people who consider that life begins in the conception, also consider that destroying a blastocyst is clearly murder, so it is immoral even when it can be used with good intentions.

This can explain why, during the last years, the non-embryonic sources of stem cells (such as cord blood) have gained so much popularity and have been studied more thoroughly than the embryonic sources. At this point, it is very important to highlight that this fact is also considered part of the “cons” because, as it was mentioned before, the non-embryonic stem cells can differentiate themselves into a limited number of cells, so they are considered by some experts as “less powerful” and not frequently used .