Human stem cell research is plagued with the notion that stem cells can only be found from an unborn or dead fetus. This in fact is untrue. Since majority of the opponents of this research are religious and anti-abortion groups, it makes sense for these groups to attack the idea of stem cells coming from human embryo cells. Pope John Paul II, is among the stem cell protesters; he stated, “A free and virtuous society, which America aspires to be, must reject practices that devalue and violate human life at any stage from conception until natural death”.
The religious and anti-abortion groups use the argument that life starts at the moment of conception and killing an unborn baby is inhumane. Looking at this from this point of view does make anyone question the morality of stem cell research. Thinking this way without facts to support the statement is the most intellectual thing a person or group could do. One week old embryos are considered blastocysts still and not human; blastocysts are a cluster of cells that is all. A cluster of cells is by no means a human being. Majority of scientists do not consider embryos to be a person until at the very least two weeks old when it develops its primitive streak/ first evidence of a nervous system.
One can put the aborted fetuses argument to rest due to a team at Advanced Cell Technology in Massachusetts. By extracting one cell from an 8-celled embryo, they were able to use that cell to create more through mitosis. The 8 celled mouse embryos, now 7 celled embryos, were implanted into a female mouse; the same was done with another mouse, control group, but all 8 celled embryos were left alone. The female was still able to bare the 23 mice to full term the same as the control group from this experiment that had 8 celled mouse embryos. The single cell that was removed and multiplied created 100 stem cells. In this study no mice were harmed, the embryos were safe, and stem cells were still able to be collected without death to the unborn mice. The unborn mice were also viable and fertile offspring indicating no issues occurred during development even with the experiment being done.
Another way stem cells can be obtained without harming an embryo is called “altered nuclear transfer” or ANT for short. In the process known as ANT, the stem cells were extracted from cloned embryos. By extracting human eggs and emptying its nucleus, the group of MIT scientists were able to place donor skin cell nuclei into these cells. This forms something similar to Dolly the sheep that was cloned and produced in the 90’s. Since cloning is considered unethical, this group of scientists infected the donor skin cell with a virus. This virus blocked the action of the Cdx2 gene which is essential for formation of the placenta. Without the placenta, it is unable to be implanted back into the womb. This disqualified the embryo as a “true” embryo making it a “pseudo-embryo”. As a result, the desired stem cells are able to be obtained without an aborted fetus being utilized. This does not refute the idea that life starts immediately following inception, but if the scientific theory that a cluster of cells is a blastocyte and not a human-being is accepted, research such as this can be done more easily and people can be treated using stem cells.
The American College of Obstericians and Gynecologists Committee on Ethics published what their opinion was on using embryos for stem cell research back in 2006. It stated, “If the preimplantation embryo is left or maintained outside the uterus, it cannot develop into a human being”. The main focus in this statement is the phrase “develop into a human being”. This word’s importance is so great, because in order for something to develop or transform, it must have been something else to being with. This indicates it is not a human being.
Sources:
“The Cases For and Against Stem Cell Research.” Fox News. FOX News Network, 09 Aug. 2001. Web. 2 Nov. 2016.
“Two ‘ethical’ Ways to Harvest Stem Cells.” New Scientist. N.p., n.d. Web. 02 Nov. 2016.
“When Does Human Life Begin?” Council for Secular Humanism. N.p., n.d. Web. 17 Nov. 2016.
Rowan Counterintuitive 