The idea of taking stem cells and using them to create more stem cells is hardly new.
With the experiments dating back to the 1950s, new breakthroughs are making it a viable option for these stem cells to be used to find cures for cancer, and help heal heart, brain, and spinal injuries that otherwise would have been debilitating or fatal. The controversial question that has arose from this research is whether or not it is ethical to kill an embryo to harvest these stem cells. The answer is no. This is because not only do the ends not justify the means, but what seems harmless now could turn into a completely unethical “business” whose only purpose would be to destroy one life to help save another.
The ethical solution to this problem would …show more content…
The supply just cannot meet the demand.
Thus, scientists have turned to another solution, In Vitro fertilization. In Vitro fertilization is the act of taking four to five sperm and egg cells from the father and mother of the potential baby.
These sperm and egg are paired together and inserted into the mother’s womb. After a period of around a week, the mother returns to the doctor who removes all but the strongest embryo to continue into birth. The other embryos are then discarded. Scientists have, with the consent
Webb 2 of the donors, been taking these discarded embryos and using them for embryonic stem cell research. This could potentially open doors that we would shun to open on a normal basis. Like the black market on organ donations, who is to stop a black market on In Vitro fertilization?
These unethical practices are a real issue.
These unethical practices could lead to a “business” of unethical In Vitro fertilization. At the moment, In Vitro fertilization creates a human child. But, what is to say that instead of placing five embryos and taking out four, we place five and take out five. At that point, we aren’t attempting to create a child and instead creating life only to destroy it. This
With the experiments dating back to the 1950s, new breakthroughs are making it a viable option for these stem cells to be used to find cures for cancer, and help heal heart, brain, and spinal injuries that otherwise would have been debilitating or fatal. The controversial question that has arose from this research is whether or not it is ethical to kill an embryo to harvest these stem cells. The answer is no. This is because not only do the ends not justify the means, but what seems harmless now could turn into a completely unethical “business” whose only purpose would be to destroy one life to help save another.
The ethical solution to this problem would …show more content…
The supply just cannot meet the demand.
Thus, scientists have turned to another solution, In Vitro fertilization. In Vitro fertilization is the act of taking four to five sperm and egg cells from the father and mother of the potential baby.
These sperm and egg are paired together and inserted into the mother’s womb. After a period of around a week, the mother returns to the doctor who removes all but the strongest embryo to continue into birth. The other embryos are then discarded. Scientists have, with the consent
Webb 2 of the donors, been taking these discarded embryos and using them for embryonic stem cell research. This could potentially open doors that we would shun to open on a normal basis. Like the black market on organ donations, who is to stop a black market on In Vitro fertilization?
These unethical practices are a real issue.
These unethical practices could lead to a “business” of unethical In Vitro fertilization. At the moment, In Vitro fertilization creates a human child. But, what is to say that instead of placing five embryos and taking out four, we place five and take out five. At that point, we aren’t attempting to create a child and instead creating life only to destroy it. This