By:
Toby K.
Embryonic stem cells research has
been a major topic of controversy recently. Stem cells are blank cells that can
be coded to be implanted in substitute of any other cell in the human body. When
recoded, these cells can be implanted into the body to serve the same function
as any other adult cell, even ones that cannot regenerate like cerebral cells. The
only concern is how to gather these cells; in order to obtain them, the
embryonic cells have to be taken from the blastocysts of a 3-5 day old embryo.
The way to collect stem cells causes
a lot of argument. There have been many moral and ethical issues to taking the
cells from an embryo. These include people that are fighting for the rights of
embryos just as if they were humans. These people can also bring up the point
that embryonic stem cell research is not proven. There have been very little
trials of stem cells being implanted on humans and people fear that injecting
them may also harm people in some way if the body rejects the cells.
On the other hand, embryonic stem
cell research has been very successful when tested on animals. If the same is
to be expected if trials are translated to humans, many diseases such as Type 1 diabetes may be cured. In a test done on a rat that carried the diabetes
disease, scientists injected recoded embryonic stem cells into an open pocket
in the eyeball. Since the pocket has no chance of the body rejecting it, the
stem cells ultimately ended up curing the diabetes and saving the rat’s life.
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