Cancer is an ailment that will affect everyone, either directly or indirectly throughout the course of their lives. You have a 1 in 3 chance of getting cancer in the United Kingdom and the risk is increasing due to our lifestyles. Lymphoma is a cancer of the Lymph nodes that affects the immune cells of the nodes. The cancer creates a solid tumor which restricts the flow of blood to the region. The symptoms for the cancer include anorexia, fatigue and fevers and can be very disruptive to the life of the sufferer. If you spot more than one of these symptoms occurring at any one time then it is advisable to go and speak with a doctor and have a few tests run.

The cancer has usually been treated using chemotherapy yet this is becoming seen as a somewhat archaic method of killing the cancer and runs the risk of irradiating further cells. The process has also not got a 100% success rate, which means that the cancer may come back. Once you have had Lymphoma you are unlikely to get your Lymph nodes back to full efficiency and may consider a transplant, although as with any transplant there is a risk of rejection. However, stem cell research is showing some promising signs in this field. By bathing the treated organ in these cells you find that it is able to regenerate itself back to full working order; something that was previously unattainable. Although controversial the therapy is likely to become common practice over the next decade.

For a country that has no scruples about allowing hundreds of thousands of dogs to be tortured for their entire lifetimes to produce puppies and kittens for the pet store industry and that has no qualms about spraying cosmetic products into the eyes of rabbits so teeny boppers can die their hair purple, it’s just plain weird when conservatives get all emotional about embryonic stem cell research.

These are the very same people who get all weepy about awful it is to not be able to have a child and how wonderful it is when infertility can be circumvented through in vitro fertilization. In these cases, the idea of “God’s will” is tossed out the window.

They don’t seem to care much if left-over embryos are thrown away. If they’ve ever held a funeral for one, it’s a best-kept secret.

Most of the arguments in favor of embryonic stem cell research center on the potential for curing diseases, such as diabetes and Parkinson’s, or treating spinal chord injuries that have immobilized many, such as Christopher Reeve, who died to early to benefit from it.

This argument seeks to balance the benefit to the living with the demise of cells that have the potential for life, and it gets bogged down in the definition of life.

An equally important argument in favor of embryonic stem cell research is an economic one. This country has already off-shored most of its manufacturing industry. We don’t know how to make anything anymore.

As a country, we need to become leaders in this type of research and therapies if only to keep our brains from atrophying. If the U.S. plans to remain an economic leader, we can’t afford to give another industry away to China.

Stem cell research is a hot topic no matter which side you prefer to take. There are benefits and there are also pitfalls with this type of research, but in order to make an informed decision about your opinion, you will need to know and understand the facts. Below is a pro and con list, most items on the list will have an explanation, though some may not; research is essential, this is a first step towards understanding the issues.

Pros:

Embryonic stem cell research can help find cures for or prevent issues such as:

Cancer of various different types, Parkinson’s disease, Alzheimer’s, Heart disease, Stroke, Diabetes, Various birth defects, Spinal cord injuries, Organ damage and even transplant rejection.

The reason why it can help with all of these issues, and many more, is that embryonic stem cell research uses the regenerative cells of an embryo which are able to reproduce any other cell in the body. This means that you can easily gather information about how the development can affect various diseases.

Ethical debates have been raging since the idea of stem cell research first crossed scientists minds’, here are a few reasons why it isn’t unethical to perform research on embryonic stem cells:

In the event of an abortion at least some good for the whole of humanity can come of it. Research cannot be done on adult stem cells because they don’t have the share the same aspects as those from an embryo. The good of the research outweighs the bad of the methods.

Cons:

Nevertheless, there will always be opponents in cutting edge research and many will have compelling points:

Some say it’s an attempt to play God, arguments have been made that it devalues human life, there have also been people who have voiced fears of things such as cloning of humans and too much information about creating unnaturally long life spans.

On the ethical side, many of the arguments are the same as the practical arguments and a lot of religious stigma is involved in most people’s arguments against embryonic stem cell research.

In the end, it is your choice whether you wish to support research of embryonic stem cells. However, with no solid argument against the research it is astounding that so many people still oppose it.

If you’re looking for an answer as to whether or not embryonic stem cells are the medical miracle that they’re toted to be, you’ll quickly find that there are many different answers, and that they are all very different. Believers in the research state that it is a world that is waiting to be discovered, and that once it’s full potential is realized, it will revolutionize the world of medicine. Others argue though that the benefits are not worth the risks and the damage caused to get those results.

What are Embryonic Stem Cells?

Embryonic stem cells are cells that have been taken from an embryo, which is of course a fertilized egg and the very beginning of life form. Embryonic stem cells have not yet been differentiated, meaning that they have not been “designated” as being tissue muscle, nerve endings, or muscle mass. In short, embryonic stem cells can be turned into any cell that the body needs. Because diseases and illnesses mean the destruction of cells, being able to produce new cells of anything needed, is a huge advancement for the medical world.

Have Embryonic Stem Cells Cured any Diseases?

Arguers against stem cell research say that the destruction of potential lives in the form of embryos is not only cruel, but pointless because embryonic stem cells have not yet cured any diseases. This is true but it doesn’t really mean anything. The field of embryonic stem cells has just been tapped into, and there’s so much to be discovered. Just because they haven’t cured anything yet doesn’t mean that they won’t and that the very good potential they have for it is something worth looking into.

Is Embryonic Stem Cell Research Ethical?

Again, the biggest argument against the research of embryonic stem cells is that it destroys, embryos, which could potentially be a life. Whether or not this is true is only for individuals to decide for themselves. However, it’s important to consider that any embryos used in the research are created in test tubes in a laboratory, not in a uterus. Because of this, the chance that the embryos would survive even without the researching and testing is not very good.

Many people have heard the term stem cell research in the last few years. Some may have even been inclined to do some research on their own, outside of what the media was telling them. However, there are many misunderstood facts about stem cell research which cause some to view it as an evil practice, including churches.

While here in America the number one complainants about stem cell research are overly zealous Christians with something to prove, there are countless other activist groups that oppose the research in other parts of the world. The main concern of all of these groups is that, to benefit from the research, scientists are killing innocent children. In fact, stem cell research is commenced at such an early stage of embryonic development that the basis of these claims is simply based on people’s religions and personal viewpoints.

Many people, despite their qualms about stem cell research, would not be hesitant to accept treatments that arose from these experiments where they have been able to grow healthy, functioning cells to combat various consequences of some diseases. Despite these unfounded fears and willingness to personally benefit from the use of research they so adamantly condemn, scientists, because of legislation, found a way to culture what is known as pluripotent stem cells without the need of an embryo.

Pluripotent cells are able to grow into the three primary germ layers while self-renewing themselves indefinitely. With this discovery, the limitations that were in place on stem cell research were lifted and scientists were allowed to, once again, use new lines of stem cells for research. The new research is hoped to eventually lead to cures for cancer, AIDS and other terminal illnesses which can only be prolonged right now.

Embryonic stem cell research has been very controversial over the last few years. Several rights to life campaigns have pushed to have the stem cell research banned. Medical Ethics have been questioned, and scrutinized. Several of these factions believe that it’s immoral and should be illegal to do research on the stem cells collected from aborted frozen embryos.

The potential for major medical breakthroughs is immense. The more we advance with medical technology the better our chances of curing what are currently incurable diseases becomes. The use of these embryonic stem cells is part of that process. These stem cells are collected from embryos that are donated to the research centers. These embryos are no longer wanted by the individuals who own them.

The number of stem cells is very limited to each embryo and therefore to harvest a large amount of stem cells, many embryos are needed, and the remainder of the embryo is wasted. There are not many guidelines yet in place for this type of research; however, morals regarding this type of research are very strict. Many believe that these morals do not belong in a laboratory. Others believe that more strict morals are necessary to govern this type of research.

What ever your stand point may be regarding stem cell research, it is always a good idea to be open minded to what this type of research can do for you and for others. What if your child had a deadly form cancer and these stem cells would cure your child, what would you think then?

Embryonic stem cell research has generated heated arguments in the realm of medical ethics. Those who oppose it generally believe that it is immoral and should remain illegal. Those on the other side of the debate believe that the opponents of embryonic stem cell research are preventing and standing in the way of medical miracles. Furthermore, they feel that for many years, no one even gave notice to the use of animals in scientific research. Once this issue was brought to people’s attention, certain laws and regulations popped up. However, we still are using animals in studies, and many people have benefited from the outcome of the research and experimentation.

Proponents also argue that people do not seem to understand the fact that most embryonic cells come from people that no longer have use or need for the frozen embryos. They feel that this should remain the personal decision of the individual to donate them for research. The invaluable research and potential cures for major diseases and breakthroughs are huge. There needs to be better guidelines developed for embryonic research. Guidelines and regulations are always necessary for research but we must not be so morally rigid that we stagnate our medical research.

With such a difficult issue, it is important that people know and understand what stem cell research is, how it will impact society and the knowledge that potential abuses can and will be addressed. The ability to achieve medical marvels will depend on regulating and expanding embryonic stem cell research.

Many people oppose the idea of embryonic stem cell research because it causes a large amount of waste in terms of embryos being destroyed to get a hold of a few stem cells. There are several different things that are deemed immoral by the use of the stem cells for actual research projects that can help humanity rather than to create a new beauty secret that all of Hollywood is going to be raving about. It is important that the use of the cells are regulated enough to really benefit from them enough in actual science achievements. This way they can really take advantage of what they have available to them to really help the world.

It is important that the embryonic stem cells are harvested from legal sources as well. Right now it is very difficult to get a hold of embryonic stem cells legally without the help from donating mothers that have too many embryos than they could possibly use due to hormonal treatments. This is one of the only options for researchers that are following the rules set by current standards for embryonic stem cells. You could be sure to look into the possible projects that are proposed for the legal use of stem cells online to support or protest the projects. This method is very useful to help take advantage of advanced knowledge of projects which may help you or someone you know by keeping up to date with the proposals.