Advantages and Disadvantages of Stem Cell Research

Stem cell therapy and stem cell research have been a hotly debated topic over recent years. Most of us may have a general understanding of the controversy, but we may be unaware of the specific issues surrounding stem cell therapy and its research. There are many advantages and disadvantages to stem cell therapy and research, but what are these advantages and disadvantages?

Stem Cell Research, for some, is the stuff of Science fiction movies while for others, this research has advantages and holds the promise of a new chance at life. Imagine a world where transplants could be done without another person losing an organ. This could be possible with the advancements in stem cell research.

What is Stem Cell Research?

Stem Cell Research is directed at the potential that certain types of cells, called stem cells, have for regenerating damaged tissue in the body. A stem cell is capable of developing into other types of cells, like kidney cells, liver cells, heart cells, etc. Stem cells circulate and function to replace dysfunctional cells, naturally maintaining optimal health. Current medical research is focused on two particular types of stem cells, adult stem cells and embryonic stem cells.

Out of the three types of stem cells, two are able to develop into any type of cell within the human body. These two are called totipotent and pluripotent respectively. Stem cells that are pluripotent have the capability of forming virtually all of the possible tissue types found in human beings. These stem cells can only be found in a particular stage (a blastocyst) in human embryos. Multipotent stem cells are partially differentiated, so that they can form a restricted number of tissue types. Multipotent stem cells can be found in the fetus, in numerous adult tissues and umbilical cord blood. The third type of stem cells has less regenerative potential and can only develop into a limited number of other types of cells.

Advantages of Stem Cell Research

• It provides medical benefits in the fields of therapeutic cloning and regenerative medicine.
• It provides great potential for discovering treatments and cures to a plethora of diseases including Parkinson’s disease, schizophrenia, Alzheimer’s disease, Cancer, spinal cord injuries, diabetes and many more.
• Limbs and organs could be grown in a lab from stem cells and then used in transplants or to help treat illnesses.
• It will help scientists to learn about human growth and cell development.
• Scientists and doctors will be able to test millions of potential drugs and medicine, without the use of animals or human testers. This necessitates a process of simulating the effect the drug has on a specific population of cells. This would tell if the drug is useful or has any problems.
• Stem cell research also benefits the study of development stages that cannot be studied directly in a human embryo, which sometimes are linked with major clinical consequences such as birth defects, pregnancy loss and infertility. A more comprehensive understanding of normal development will ultimately allow the prevention or treatment of abnormal human development.
• Another advantage of stem cell research is that it holds the key to reversing the effects of aging and prolonging our lives. Stem cell research has already found many treatments that help slow the aging process, and a bonus of further stem cell research is a possible ‘cure’ for aging altogether.
• An advantage of the usage of adult stem cells to treat disease is that a patient’s own cells could be used to treat a patient. Risks would be quite reduced because patients’ bodies would not reject their own cells.
• An advantage of using embryonic stem cells is that they can develop into any cell types of the body, and may then be more versatile than adult stem cells.

Disadvantages of Stem Cell Research

• The use of embryonic stem cells for research involves the destruction of blastocysts formed from laboratory-fertilized human eggs. For those people who believe that life begins at conception, the blastocyst is a human life and to destroy it is immoral and unacceptable.
• Like any other new technology, it is also completely unknown what the long term effects of such an interference with nature could materialize.
• Embryonic stem cells amy not be the solution for all ailments.
• According to a new research stem cell therapy was used on heart disease patients. It was found that it can make their coronary arteries become narrower.
• A disadvantage of most adult stem cells is that they are pre-specialized, for instance, blood stem cells make only blood, and brain stem cells make only brain cells.
• A disadvantage of embryonic stem cells is that they are derived from embryos that are not a patient’s own and the patient’s body may reject them.

Truly, the controversy over human stem cell research will continue to rage furiously. We hope there is some novel scientific innovation in the future, which will have the advantages of stem cells without compromising the right of human life to exist. One should realize that man should control technology and certainly not the other way around.