Stem cell research legalization with ethical restrictions

¶ … Stem Cells

Since it is possible that stem cell research may lead directly to the cures of many diseases, including but not limited to: diabetes, heart disease, Parkinson's disease and vision or hearing loss, it can be an important area of study and research.

Other important foci also come into play when doing research on stem cells. Apart from the potential curing of the diseases named above, stem cell research can also have an effect on human cloning and the great debate being held in American society concerning the same.

Some of the questions being asked when discussing these two subjects include; is it ethical to use stem cells to create human life, and if the research studies yield some of the expected results that some experts think they will yield, then is it also ethical to use those same results to select the characteristics that children will display as they grow older in regards to reproductive cloning. Many experts believe that if research is conducted on stem cells and the manipulation of those cells that it will necessarily lead to cloning those cells.

Other experts believe that if such research is conducted, even if the research conducted is only on therapeutic cloning, that the temptation will be too great for most researchers to 'push the envelope' and include reproductive cloning in their studies as well.

The National Institute of Health states that the responsibility of adult stem cells can be; "An adult stem cell is an undifferentiated cell found among differentiated cells in a tissue or organ, can renew itself, and can differentiate to yield the major specialized cell types of the tissue or organ. The primary roles of adult stem cells in a living organism are to maintain and repair the tissue in which they are found." (Info 2006)

Adult stem cells are replicators in such a way that they are able to duplicate a variety of different cells. "Stem cells have the remarkable potential to develop into many different cell types in the body, serving as a sort of repair system...they can theoretically divide without limit to replenish other cell...each new cell has the potential to either remain a stem cell or become another type of cell with a more specialized function, such as a muscle cell, a red blood cell, or a brain cell." (Info 2006).