Argumentative Essay On Stem Cell Therapy

Revolutionary but Controversial
As our world advances, so does technology, medicine, and everything around us. Although we are not prepared for the advancement of technology and various of us lack knowledge about it, it won’t stop improving; therefore, it is important for us to be well informed about what is happening around us. As for the medical field, new forms of treatment are always catching the public eye. Questions like whether the treatment is safe, ethical, or if it simply works, are always being asked. People are currently discussing the ethical issue that surrounds stem cell therapy. Yes, this could be revolutionary, and it has the possibility to cure illness, but at what expense? Should one be willing to end the life of an unborn …show more content…
For example, “In Germany, a cancer victim whose jaw had been removed, re-grew bone tissue utilizing adult stem-cells from his own bone marrow, and was able to eat a bratwurst sandwich for the first time in nine years” (Davenport). This quote proves that adult stem cells have already done an exceptional work as opposed to embryonic cells in where there has been hardly any improvement. There is no need in wasting a ton of money funding embryonic stem cells when they can use it to expand research on adult stem cells. If these cells had the potential to allow someone to regrow bone tissue in their jaw, there is no telling what else it can do. Also, according to further research “[adult stem cells] are already used to treat hematological malignancies and to modify the side effects of cancer chemotherapy” (Lo, Bernard, and Parham). Based on this quote, adult stem cells are not only being used to regrow bone tissues, but it is also being used to cure a form of cancer that begins in the cells of blood-forming tissues. Imagine if scientist further analyze these cells, they could uncover so much more. So, why bother funding embryonic stem cells? At first glance, people may notice that embryonic cells may be better than adults cells, but upon more …show more content…
One of the reasoning beings is that adult cells present copious issues, one being that “adult stem cells are rare in mature tissues, so isolating these cells from an adult tissue is challenging, and methods to expand their numbers in cell culture have not yet been worked out. This is an important distinction, as large numbers of cells are needed for stem cell replacement therapies” (Stem Cell Basics I ). This quote presents an important issue with adult stem cells. To perform a stem cell transplant it requires a vast quantity of cells, so if they are rare it makes it difficult to do the transplant. However, in this case, adult stem cells are not only rare, but once you manage to find some the process to remove them are challenging. People claim that because these cells are rare and challenging to find, this causes the transplant to be extremely expensive and only a limited amount of people can afford it. Nonetheless, if you think about how much are you truly saving because either way these types of transplants, according to various sites, range anywhere from tens to hundreds of thousands of dollars, no matter what type of cell you're using. In terms of the cells being challenging to isolate, technology is always advancing so with time scientist will find ways to isolate them without any problem. On the other side,