so a couple of years ago, travis roy came to our school to do a presentation. he was an excellent hokey player aspiring to do great things. he finally made it to play at boston university (i think, not positive) and within the first seconds (10 or 11ish) he was hit and was paralyzed for the rest of his life. his speech was moving and motivating and he told us how only one centimeter of his spinal cord is damaged and that is all that is keeping him paralyzed. i dont fully comphrehd stem cell research but he said with it, he would be able to fix the one centimeter and walk again and play hockey. since then i have been adament about the issue but i know i dont fully understand it and my opinion is obviously ignorant of what it really is. i have been reading my sisters keeper by jodi picoult (amazing, highly recommended) and the saboston university hockey player paralyzedme issue is brought up in a different light, rekindling my interest. any input is appreciated!
Stem cells are seen by many researchers as having virtually unlimited application in the treatment and cure of many human diseases and disorders including Alzheimer's, diabetes, cancer, strokes, etc. Stem cells come in two general types:
Embryonic stem cells are a primitive type of cell that can be coaxed into developing into all of the 220 types of cells found in the human body (e.g. blood cells, heart cells, brain cells, nerve cells, etc). They are derived from human embryos in a process that causes the death of the embryos.
Adult stem cells bear some similarities to embryonic stem cells. Research using adult cells has a two decade head start on embryonic stem cells. Thus, potential treatments have already advanced to humaboston university hockey player paralyzedn trial stage. Unfortunately, adult cells are limited in flexibility.
Many pro-lifers believe that human life, in the form of an ovum and spermatozoon, becomes a human person at the time of fertilization. Thus, killing an embryo in order to extract its stem cells is a form of homicide. They are generally opposed to such research. Others disagree. They believe that an embryo has the potential to develop into a person, but is not a person itself. They note that an embryo is not sentient; it has no brain, sensory organs, ability to think, awareness of its surroundings, consciousness, internal organs, arms, legs, head, etc. They feel that research using stem cells derived from embryos is ethical. The problem with this is pro lifers stop research and keep us from reaching greatness with this study.
No comments:
Post a Comment