Like any pioneering treatment in the medical field, stem cell research has had its share of controversy despite the many pros and cons it has been found to have. Widely contested by advocates of human and animal rights, stem cell research is proven in many lab tests and scientific environments to have the potential to treat many human illnesses, and have been utilized in treatments such as bone marrow transplants.
The science behind stem cell research can also boggle the mind of both people who support and oppose this revolutionary new medical advancement. Much of the development behind stem cell research are still at the experimental stages, and still remains to be a rather costly treatment today. Research still goes on into finding new ways to integrate stem cell research into more more medical treatments in the future, despite its many detractors.
What Is Stem Cell Research?
Stem cell research has attracted as many detractors to its cause as it does with supporters, but what exactly is it? While the mere mention of stem cell research is bound to stir up activists and opposing parties alike, many can not quite grasp the mechanics behind the concept, much less what it is potentially capable of in medical and scientific fields in order to treat illnesses and other debilitating and chronic ailments.
Stem cell research is actually a strategy of cell intervention which introduces other and new cells to damaged tissues in the body to treat injuries, diseases, and other ailments. Medical experts have found this new development in medical science to have the potential to change the face of medical treatments worldwide, offering a reliable way to treat disease and suffering. The significant generation of tissues that stem cells are capable of, are widely researched and continue to be developed today.
However, stem cell research is not all that new of a concept: Derivatives of what is known as a stem cell treatment have been used for over 30 years in treating cancer patients or people suffering with leukemia with bone marrow transplants and chemotherapy. However, treatments such as chemotherapy can often be unable to discriminate between disease-causing and healthy cells, causing unnatural side effects later on in treatment.
Pros of Stem Cell Research and Treatment
Stem cell research has found that many kinds of cell transplants can be used to treat a wide variety of ailments and illnesses that are caused by cell death. One of these is brain damage, where traumatic injuries around the brain can often cause cell death and loss of other vital brain-essential molecules like neurons. The typical brain contains neural stem cells which are essential in the health of the brain. Stem cell treatments can help replace and reinvigorate these cells, essentially treating brain damage at cellular level.
The treatment of cancer, often seen as an incurable ailment, has also been a widely publicized illness capable of being treated with stem cell research. The research and development of gene therapy for brain cancer has a promising outlook, according to researchers, and has been successfully utilized in treating animals such as dogs. The research in the area of utilizing stem cell treatment for cancer, however, is still in its early stages.
Stem cell treatments aren’t just for the areas of the head, however, and have been researched to treat several kinds of heart diseases as well. Clinical trials of stem cell research have shown that utilizing stem cell treatments to treat heart disease have been safe and effective thus far. Stem cell therapy and treatment has been available in some parts of the globe since 2007, and can even utilize some parts of the adult bone marrow to differentiate into the cells of heart muscles.
Cons of Stem Cell Research and Treatment
Many aspects surrounding stem cell research and treatment still retain controversy and skepticism to this day. One of the primary cons of stem cell research can be its controversial nature, and contains many reasons within itself to why there are still many who oppose and detract from the revolutionary nature of stem cell research and treatment.
Human rights activists and religious proponents claim that stem cell research violates their natural morals, as it is capable of creating a human embryonic stem cell line in the laboratory. The creation of this stem cell line also involves destroying a human embryo for its cells, making it a strong reason as to why pro-life activists also contest this line of research.
These ethical standards also extend to the use of animals in researching and developing stem cells for disease treatment, often negating the value of life for these creatures too. The deliberate destruction and creation of human and animal embryos have also made animal rights activists oppose stem cell research and treatment as they also oppose the testing of other commercial products on animals as well.
Religious proponents have also made stem cell research as a target of their scorn, due to the sensitive nature in which human and animal embryos are used in research and development. Despite the advancements stem cell research being carried on in the name of good, many religions still see the destruction of human embryos as sacrilegious to their religion, but exceptions do exist with some churches and practices.
Despite what you may think about it, the many stem cell research pros and cons have pointed to these treatments as being effective and revolutionary in the field of modern medicine.
