Benefits Of Embryonic Stem Cell Research

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An infinitesimal girl, in dire need of a heart transplant, hopelessly looks around her dull hospital room with no excitement in her eyes. At her age, she should be outside but, she is hooked up to a ventilator which is essentially breathing for her. She has been in the same hospital room for the past five months, longing for the heart that she might never get. However, if the U.S government increased funding for embryonic stem cell research, scientists would be able to genetically program embryonic stem cells to repair the defective sections of the girl’s heart. Embryonic stem cell development is a branch of the broader field of stem cell research, which focuses on extracting stem cells from excess embryos which won’t be implanted into a woman’s uterus through IVF (In Vitro Fertilization, the process by which sperm and eggs are manually mixed in a petri dish to create embryos). A woman only needs a few embryos to be implanted into her uterus to evolve into a fetus, so the remaining eggs can either be freezed or donated to a medical institution for the betterment of other human beings. The freezers holding the embryos are not like the ones found in regular households! These complex freezers cost thousands of dollars and the embryos will most likely be killed at some point due to human or technical error (“Stem Cell Research”). Thus, despite the fact that embryonic stem cell research can go dangerously awry, the US government should continue funding the beneficial process because it can help eliminate animal testing, save the lives of thousands of individuals on transplant lists, and positively impact the economy. With the aid of embryonic stem cell research, it will be possible to eliminate animal testing once and for all. U.S. law horrifically allows animals to go through extreme trauma for the betterment of humans (Milloy). These animals are often isolated, shocked, poisoned, burned, end up to be drug addicts and possess sufficient brain damage at the end of their time in a laboratory (Milloy). While these animals are being treated atrociously, they do not even have the liberty of consuming painkillers, as painkillers would affect the results of a clinical trial (Milloy). No living being should endure this type of torture for the well being of their torturers when a harmless, effective solution is readily available. Embryonic stem cell researchers concentrate on stem cells derived from embryos which are called pluripotent cells, because they have the capability to transform into just about any type of cell in the human body. In contrast, multipotent cells, which are just older stem cells, lose this highly beneficial transformative capacity and can’t morph into as great a variety of cells. As a result of private research, more than 60 genetically diverse stem cell lines already exist. They were created from embryos that have already been destroyed, and they have the ability to regenerate themselves indefinitely, creating ongoing …show more content…
If scientists program these cells to grow into hearts, livers, lungs and other organs, they can end up saving the lives of millions of people who are in dire need of transplants. CVD (a disease that deprives heart tissue of oxygen, which kills the muscle cells) has been ranked as the number 1 cause of death in the U.S since 1900 (“Frequently Asked Questions”). However, scientists have been studying embryonic stem cells for cardiac repair and have had surgeons place these stem cells into a beating heart during open heart surgery, the results concluded embryonic stem cells do improve the functionality of a defective heart (“Frequently Asked...”). Scientists hope pluripotent cells can provide stableness in the lives of those suffering from catastrophic genetic disorders such as diabetes, muscular dystrophy as well as degenerative diseases like Parkinson 's, Alzheimer 's and ALS. Providing stem cells to parts of the body which are affected by these illnesses will dramatically help scientists in their efforts to understand the basic, underlying problems in cells with these genetic mutations. That is because stem cells offer a unique window of light into cell development and inform scientists on how the development of cells goes astray in critical illnesses. Therefore, the American government should continue funding embryonic stem cell research because of their sheer medical effectiveness in curing illnesses and organ

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