Alasdair Humphries Embryonic Stem Cells Advantages Stem cells are an important new branch into the development

of treatments for a range of diseases that our population currently suffers from. Research scientists are looking at how stem cells can be used to treat diseases such as diabetes, cancer and Parkinsons disease. Stem cells are unspecialised cells that have the ability to divide continuously without specialising and have the ability to specialise to perform specific roles in the body. In addition, there are different sources of stem cells from adult, somatic stem cells to embryonic stem cells. Adult stem cells are derived from the organs in the body of a human and can be sourced with minimal invasion. They are multipotent meaning that they can only specialise to form a few kinds of cells. For example, stem cells in bone marrow can differentiate to form red blood cells and cells involved in our immune system. Research is ongoing into using stem cells derived from skin cells to produce dopamine-producing nerve cells. This is an example on how adult stem cells are being used to treat a degenerative disease that affects many of our ageing population. Adult stem cells have the advantage that the source of stem cells does not kill the donor. There is also ongoing research into producing new heart tissue for heart attack victims in addition to the replacement of blood and marrow cells for those who have undergone chemotherapy or radiation therapy for cancer. Two more ways stem cells can be used is to produce -cells present in the pancreas to combat diabetes and new skin tissue can be cultured for burn victims. Although adult stem cells provide us with many different cells, which we can use for therapy, there are many different cell types within the human body, which cannot be produced from adult stem cells. We must then turn to embryonic stem cells, which are derived from the blastocyst formed from a zygote. These stem cells are totipotent and, with the right signalling, are able to specialise to form any cell type from either an embryo or a mature human being. Embryos that would otherwise be disposed of can be set aside to provide us with stem cells for research meaning that they are used rather than wasted. This can be looked on as we are only prolonging the disposal of the embryo that would otherwise be destroyed immediately. Using embryonic stem cells opens up many more avenues that can be explored for finding cures and treatments from diseases that affect the human race. Disadvantages

Unfortunately, the use of embryos in stem cell researched has faced some controversy from the public and the government. It can be looked on as removing the potential that these embryos would have if they had matured into a human being. The danger of allowing embryos to be used in stem cell research is that it is hard to draw the boundary between right and wrong. What constitutes a human life? Surely an embryo, which has the potential to develop into a mature human being should have the same rights as a mature human being which would make stem cell research murder. Once embryonic research is allowed, it may lead to increasingly controversial experimentation like that of cloning and designer babies. As embryonic stem cell research is a fairly new discovery, much of the research being published in 1998, the long term effects of using stem cells is not known. As these cells are matured in vitro, they may have different characteristics than normal somatic cells, which may cause problems when used in peoples bodies after treatment. When a couple decides not to use an embryo to raise their own children, they are given a choice whether they want to allow stem cells to be used in scientific research. The couple, however may not be sure how exactly their embryos are being used. Are they aware that their genetic fingerprint may be in the tissues of someone who has received stem cell therapy? What if that person goes on to commit a crime and the DNA they leave is linked to the couple? This raises many questions as to what constitutes a person and the idea of ownership of DNA. Could DNA one day be copyrighted? Conclusion Stem cell research offers many possibilities into treating some of our most terrible diseases. In my opinion the benefits gained from such research far outweighs the disadvantages. I believe that if scientists keep the best interest of the human race in mind and treat everything with a degree of ethical consideration embryonic stem cell research could shape medicine of the next century.