Existing Solutions for Support in Pluripotent Stem Cell Research

The pluripotent stem is said to become the future of medicine, as these stem cells can specialize and differentiate itself into any kind of human cell in the body. This however requires unused embryos which can later be harvested to generate the new stem cells. These human embryos contain a special type of stem cell called an embryonic stem cell, which does have the ability to aid in the process of developing stem cells, but the fact of the matter is that this particular topic draws up a lot of controversies. 

One of the main reasons why we believed that the research in this field, despite saving people and helping aid in many different genetic and chronic diseases is that the public is not as educated as they could be about this particular matter. One possible solution that can help aid in the public knowledge of this stem cell research is introducing a class or even a system dedicated to stem cell research and discovery in public schools to help put a ‘unit’ in place. We believe that if this becomes available as a course to students during high school, that it would give us a chance to introduce this research to students before their time in college. This suggestion may be a way to introduce students to this type of work as we’re told that around 41% of the public being unfamiliar with Pluripotent stem cells. 

Educating people could really establish a platform for this research to build off of so that it can eventually become a vital part of the research. For example, this could mean teaching certain stem cell biology units during biology, and introducing the subject through modules and other programs could help implement the integration of this research into all science programs. However, due to the lack of familiarity, funding for these programs would lack support, as most of the public refutes the idea of pluripotent stem cell research, and most only because they are unfamiliar with the understanding. Unless stem cell research gains more support, enough to implement the teaching of this research, then we could see that this won’t be a great solution until more public knowledge is gained for this subject. 

Another existing solution that could be beneficial is providing the public with this field of research, but in a manner that is easier for them to understand. Most of the research in this field is composed of the composition of scholarly articles that provide us with a vast amount of information about stem cell research, and while most of the public isn't familiar with the medical and scientific terminology these articles discuss, it can act as a barrier to the public making it hard to process the subject of pluripotent stem cells. When not being able to process and understand the information presented in a subject, it can end up leading to misconceptions within the field and allow for fiction to get mixed in with facts. 

We believe that demonstrating the uses, benefits, and gains of using pluripotent stem cells, that it can help inform the public with the correct reasons for using pluripotent stem cells. While it can be hard for a misconceived subject to become supported, it can definitely help to start with informing the general public on the subject of stem cell research so that there’s a possibility of this research becoming more widely supported and addressed. We think that if this can happen, a solution that can be extremely beneficial is that of a new medium of communication. While pluripotent stem cell research is introduced through a majority being scholarly articles and studies, it lacks the creative awareness that engages people to listen to certain topics. This can either be because the article is too long for a person to read, a lack of knowledge within the article as the language acts as a barrier, or even that the articles are boring to the public. 

The degree of familiarity in this field is slim, and finding a medium of communication to spread the word about this research could benefit the understanding of this subject to the public and spark interest. This could also spread the familiarity of this subject through new forms of communication. For example, podcasts, radio shows, and even online videos introduce the idea of stem cell research and its benefits in the medical field. This can spread awareness beyond the medical field and biological studies as it is a way for the public to be introduced to this subject and more familiar as we continue to develop our research in the field.