In five pages the ethical considerations regarding embryonic stem cell research are examined in a position paper that argues against this practice and favors cultivating the stem cells of adults instead. Five sources are cited in the bibliography.
Name of Research Paper File: CC6_KSstemCell.rtf
Unformatted Sample Text from the Research Paper:
Cloning has long been the subject of B-grade science fiction movies, but in the decade of the 1990s it moved into the realm of reality as researchers in
the United Kingdom produced a cloned sheep and others at the University of Tennessee cloned several cows. There have been recent reports in the news that a human has
been cloned, but those reports as yet are unconfirmed and genetics scientists believe the story to be a hoax. Even so, the technology exists, and most serious scientists have
determined to avoid crossing that line. Cloning individual organs to be available for transplant, however, is a different matter. This is an
aim of embryonic stem cell research, and one that presents difficult ethical problems. Most embryos from which these stem cells are taken originate at fertility clinics in the form
of embryos created in vitro and not selected for implantation; others result from abortion activities. For the most part, embryos younger than 14 days are the most preferred for
stem cell research, making fertility clinics the most important source of embryos. What They Are Stem cells are the progenitor cells of all
types of body cells, the undifferentiated forerunners of those cells that eventually will form organs, bone, blood and every other component of the human body (Greenwood and Brownback, 2001).
In cancer research and chemotherapy, stem cells are of greatest interest after they differentiate to form blood cells, including the white blood cells that combat infection and invasion, and red
blood cells that supply nourishment to all the tissues of the body. They primarily reside in the bone marrow, but some also can be found circulating in the blood.