Stem Cell Cience Must Be Essay

Unfortunately, a tremendous amount of valuable research has been put on hold ever since the ban of federal funding for stem cell research. In the United States, the vast majority of medical research of all types that eventually lead to cures for disease are funded by the federal government. The federal ban on stem cell research does not completely prohibit it, but the effect is nearly the same, just as it would be if the federal government withdrew funding for cancer or diabetes research.

The main opposition to stem cell research comes from the Religious Right who believe that any form of research using fetal stem cells is wrong, because according to their religious views, every fertilized human egg should be considered as much a human being as any living person, even a microscopic zygote consisting of nothing more than four cells of human tissue. Certainly, the concept of religious freedom in the U.S. protects their right to hold those religious beliefs whether or not they make sense scientifically and logically. However, religious freedom also protects the rights of everybody else who may not share those religious definitions of what human life is or when it "begins."

...

Admittedly, scientists cannot identify with extreme accuracy a particular instant or "date" when human life "begins" in the womb, but they absolutely can establish minimal criteria (such as the development of a nervous system or a human brain stem) to define a point of gestation before which growing tissue cannot logically be considered alive any more than a small group of any kind of human tissue, such as a mole or a toenail clipping, which both contain our complete DNA sequence that is unique to every living thing. Religious beliefs to the contrary (i.e. that human life begins at conception) have no place outside of the personal choices of those who accept those religious beliefs, and certainly not in the laws of a religiously diverse society.

Cite this Document:

"Stem Cell Cience Must Be" (2008, September 19) Retrieved April 18, 2024, from
https://www.paperdue.com/essay/stem-cell-cience-must-be-28067

"Stem Cell Cience Must Be" 19 September 2008. Web.18 April. 2024. <
https://www.paperdue.com/essay/stem-cell-cience-must-be-28067>

"Stem Cell Cience Must Be", 19 September 2008, Accessed.18 April. 2024,
https://www.paperdue.com/essay/stem-cell-cience-must-be-28067

Related Documents
Sickle Cell Anemia Is an
PAGES 4 WORDS 1267

For example, in the case of sickle beta thalassemia, the individual has inherited a gene for hemoglobin S. from one parent and a gene for beta-thalassemia from the other. Or, in the instance of SC disease, the individual has inherited a gene for hemoglobin S. from one parent and a gene for hemoglobin C. from the other. The sickle cell trait in heterozygous carriers confers the resistance to malaria phenotype

These crises are a direct result of way in which the deformed red blood cells adhere to both each other and the insides of the blood vessel walls, blocking tissues from receiving oxygen. The disease is prevalent across some parts of Africa, the Middle East and India, which is due to the way in which the heterozygous form of the condition offers carriers a degree of protection against malaria,

Sickle Cell Anemia
PAGES 2 WORDS 617

Sickle Cell Anemia There are both advantages and disadvantages of having sickle cell anemia. How much benefit a person gets from sickle cell anemia's advantages, however, largely depends on where that person is located and what his or her environment is. The same concept applies to the disadvantages of this condition, although to a lesser extent. The root of the advantages and disadvantages of this disease pertain to its specific form

Sickle Cell Anemia
PAGES 3 WORDS 891

Sickle Cell (Rough Draft) Sickle cell anemia is a blood disease that causes badly formed red blood cells. The disease is genetec. Mostly people from Africa or other coutries around the Mediterraean Sea get it. In the United States, African-Americans are most likely to have it (Howard, 1995). Red blood cells are the blood cells that carry oxygen throughout the body. When a person has sickle-cell anemia the hemoglobon in the cell

Sickle cell anemia according to the U.S. National Library of Medicine/National Institutes of Health - NLM/NIH (2013), "is a disease in which your body produces abnormally shaped red blood cells." As the NLM/NIH further point out, the cells produced in this case ordinarily have a crescent-like shape. The red blood cells of an individual usually have a disk-like shape. It is this disk like shape that enhances and eases their

Sickle Cell Anemia As an inherited condition, it is presence of hemoglobin which tends to be abnormal that brings about sickle cell anemia. In basic terms, hemoglobin is a red blood cell protein whose main function is carrying oxygen. It is this hemoglobin abnormality that informs 'sickled' or distorted red blood cells whose survival is compromised as a result of the distortion and fragility. Though the prevalence of the condition largely