Stem Cell Research Persuasive Essay

In recent history, there have been remarkable breakthroughs in medical technology. The advent of vaccinations, HIV AIDS treatment options and targeted chemotherapy are all incredible discoveries that have saved millions of lives. However, recent research into the application of regenerative therapies using stem cells has loomed over most other discoveries as possibly the most important breakthrough in recent history. Because stem cells are so versatile, they could be be used to treat diseases such as Parkinson's, cancer and immune disorders. The possibilities of what stem cells can cure is nearly incomprehensibly they are so far reaching. However, the opposition facing stem cell research is halting the progress of research, due to the ethical concerns of harvesting stem cells. This state of limbo as ethics committees and doctors debate the best way to proceed will not be solved quickly, but a different solution is now present. Because stem cells can now be reversed engineered from skin cells, the ethics debate that has dogged research and progress has effectively been eliminated. …show more content…
Because the field of regenerative medicine is so new, the lack of federal regulation in relation to the harvesting of stem cells research is laden with ethical concerns, particularly regarding the ideas of personhood, human dignity, and justice toward humankind that arise from dealing with human life in one of its earliest forms, the embryo (Brind'Amour). Due to the sporadic and inconsistent nature of these regulations, many institutes avoid research, afraid to participate in the highly controversial research. However, the advent of induced pluripotent cells in regenerative medicine greatly decreases the need for stem cells. This decreased need will, with proper regulation, should eliminate the ethical walls that have dogged the field of regenerative