Stem Cell Research

Stem Cell Research

An aborted fetus sits in a jar on the table next to the doctor. Normally the doctor would dispose of it right away, but today he is sending it off to a research lab. This unwanted child may hold the key to life for someone. Stem cells. They are the most basic cells in the body. When a fetus begins to develop, stem cells in its body are blank. They may become a hair cell, a heart cell, or maybe even a brain cell. Now that the fetus is no longer wanted, and the stem cells are removed, we maybe able to use these cells to help the sick and dieing people. The use of stem cells in research is very beneficial to our society from helping to cure diseases and growing organs that would not be rejected by the host, helping with the degeneration of terminally ill patients. But it also hurts because intellectual and financial resources, in the short term and long term, are being exported. Opponents to stem cell research believe that by using an unborn fetus that we are ruining the sanctity of life. On the contrary, we are actually valuing the sanctity of life to the person that needs the stem cells to live.

There are many diseases that can be helped or even cured by using stem cells. With the health of the American populace steadily declining, stem cells could help not only the incurable diseases but the average health problems too. A burn victim would be able to have skin grown for him and graphed on. They may also be able to help with recovering the damage done to his nerves. Male baldness could be helped as well. Patients would no lover have to wait on a long list for a liver transplant, they may have one grown just for them. Also, their body would not reject the new transplant because it would be grown using their own DNA. In 2004, a woman with arthritis had gotten a stem cell transplant from a sibling. Even before she was released from the hospital her arthritis was completely gone. There are many incurable diseases that stem cells could potential cure such as: spinal cord injuries, multiple sclerosis, diabetes, Parkinson's disease, cancer, Alzheimer's disease, heart disease, certain genetic disorders and much more. The possibilities of what stem cells could cure are endless.

People with terminal diseases or the diagnoses of diseases may also benefit from stem cell research. They maybe able to have the process of degeneration slowed down. With some diseases that degenerate parts of the human body, stem cells would be able to regenerate those destroyed parts and keep the patient healthier longer. Another benefit of stem cells is using the understanding of their inner workings to help diagnose and prevent diseases. The more we understand how stem cells are made and how they transform into other cells will help the medical field detect early warning signs of future problems. A doctor may be ale to find genetic problems in an unborn fetus. They may also be able to actually detect the onset of Alzheimer's, multiple sclerosis, Parkinson's, or any other problems. This in the long run would help people live a longer and healthier life. They could go to the doctor and get a check up, and with the new understanding of the way certain diseases form, stop the onset before it starts.

There are many different ways intellectual and financial resources are being affected by our government not funding stem cell research. Since the United States Government doesn't allow for government funded research, many companies have to rely on private funding. This allows for private companies to own the rights to the technologies that it discovers on how to use stem cells to cure or help people. When that occurs not only can they sell that research off to other companies, they can also charge what ever they want in the hospitals. So that will trickle down to the patient that needs the care to survive. Also, if the patient has health insurance and the insurance company doesn't want to cover that kind of treatment, the patient has to find the money to pay for it another way. But, if they do choose to cover it and it is very expensive then all the rates of the people with that insurance company will rise. One way to get around some of that cost would be to have government funded research. With the government in control of the technology, they have rights to set standards and pricing on how they see fit. With many other countries around the world funding their own research, the United States of America is being left farther and farther behind in medical technology field. When the technology finally becomes available American hospitals will have to buy the foreign technology. So money that could have stayed in the United States is now heading over seas. But if our government