Research Paper on:
Pros and Cons of Stem Cell Research

Unformatted Sample Text from the Research Paper:
a few. What is this incredible find for the medical and scientific world? The human embryonic stem cell. To view them, they seem rather unremarkable, more like round hollow balls  smacked up against one another(Begley, Murr, Check,Rogers 2001). However, the forty cells that make up an embryo have the power to contol human fate and destiny. Many, when considering the  human embryo, see the collection of cells as a human life, full of that potential to control fate and contribute to society. However, science and those in the bio-technological field  see something else. They see a possible end to the pain and slow death that millions around the world face from such incurable diseases like Parkinsons or Alzheimers (Begley, Murr,  Check, Rogers 2001). Four days into development the mass of embryonic cells is called a blastocyst. Cells in the outer layer will become part of the placenta while those on  the inside of the clump are in essence a blank slate. Those are what scientists call pluripotent and capable of developing in to any one of a number of the  bodys structure, from the organs to the neuronal and pancreatic, to the skin (Begley, Murr, Check, Rogers 2001, p. 22). This, then is what is commonly referred to as stem  cells. THE HARVESTING AND RESEARCHING OF STEM CELLS In November 1998, the University of Wisconsin and several other leading universities claimed that they had succeeded in keeping human embryonic stems  cells from differentiating and in fact had kept them in the pluripotent state inside the confines of a petri dish. This was met with both acclaim and alarm. Those most  excited were the researchers, who set to work and quickly made a presentation to congress which outlined the potential benefits as a result of the research. By December of 2000,