Stem cell research has been becoming a larger national issue of public concern in the last few years. The promises of treatments that it can provide are up against deep seeded morals that have existed for generations. Some people believe that the federal government should not give assistance to the research, while others feel the government is not doing enough to help it along.

There has been considerable discussion and analysis about the moral and ethical issues toward the use of stem cells in biotechnology. This is not a question that has only been discussed in our government, but in other governments around the world. No one disagrees that stem cells have shown to be the most promising discovery in the last century for providing cures and treatments of numerous diseases and disabilities. The question that has some people against the research is that because we have the ability to do it, is it in the best interest of the human race to proceed with it? The opposing side in the debate sees the question as having an easy solution: research should be allowed because it can help the lives of so many that are suffering.

Human embryonic stem cells have shown the most potential in the labs on their own. Embryonic stem cells “come from the inner cell mass of a blastocyst, the term for a fertilized egg four days after conception” (Reeves). When a couple goes to a clinic to have in vitro fertilization done to try to have a baby, the excess cells are usually frozen for future use or destroyed. The ones that would normally be destroyed are the stem cells that scientist have mostly used for research, with the couples consent. The interest in embryonic stem cells by scientist is that “they have the potential to develop into virtually any tissue type” (McGough 148). Those tissues can benefit such diseases as diabetes, Parkinson’s, Alzheimer’s, cardiovascular diseases, autoimmune diseases, severe burns, cancer, osteoporosis, spinal cord injuries, birth defects, along with the possibility to grow tissue for transplants.

A third view could be considered a compromise between the other two. There has been an increasing view from “commentators, institutions, and courts (who) may be inclined to classify the embryo as neither person nor property, but as a physical entity deserving of ‘special respect’” (McGough 180). One such case, Davis v. Davis, was seen in the Supreme Court of Tennessee. The dispute was between a divorced couple who argued about what was to be done with their frozen embryos. The court found that, since before the divorce, the embryos were not seen as mere “property” but as an “ownership” interest. Before, in cases like these, the decision would go along with any existing consent agreement. In this case there was no agreement, so ultimately the court held that “the party wishing to avoid procreation should prevail” (McGough 181). The court achieved its decision by adopting the American Society for Reproductive Medicine’s position with the idea that “special respect to the early embryo helps to distinguish embryos from mere things” (McGough 181).

1) What are stem cells and what promise do they provide,

2) The moral issues that are important to further research along,

While there may not be as much money available in the private sector, they could still resume their research. In the private sector, there would not be any kind of guidelines to follow, so they would have no limits to how they got their conducted their experiments. This seems to go against what has everyone concerned. In the private sector the individuals or companies funding the research would be more interested in the potential profit involved. Also, private funding would not be as concerned about how or where the embryos came from.

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