Save Lives with Stem Cell

When Victor Gonzalez and his wife found out that they were expecting their second child they were elated with joy. On the couples’ second-trimester ultrasound test, they received the worst news any expecting parents could ever hear. Their unborn child was diagnosed with a rare disease called Macular Degeneration. This disease, if untreated, would leave their child with no functional eyesight and muscle degeneration. Doctors recommended placing Gongalez’s unborn child into a clinical trial. This trial procedure would inject healthy stem cells into the fetus's bloodstream in the hope to regenerate muscle tissue. The results were phenomenal. The trial medicine was successful by reducing his progressive disease growth by 43%. The success story of the Gonzalez’s is not just a miracle or a statistical outlier. Stem Cells do save many lives. The National Institute of Health should continue to encourage embryonic stem cell research as it will lead to more effective treatments within the embryo for genetic abnormalities and eventually eliminate the risk of diseases.

Funding embryonic stem cell research can lead to new types of treatments for genetic deformities. There is a significant number of congenital diseases that can be treated with the use of embryonic stem cells. These cells, which are obtained from the umbilical cord can be transformed into any kind of tissue by the appropriate biological and chemical manipulations. Currently, in the status quo, there is no cure for mitochondrial diseases, however, with continued research “researchers can generate heart, brain, muscle or eye cells from the mutation-free stem cells”. Removing the genetic mutation will alleviate the potential suffering of individuals born with that disease. For example, Sickle Cell Anemia, Immunodeficiency diseases, and Cystic Fibrosis can be cured within utero which will prevent lifelong complications and ultimately lengthen lifespan. Many researchers envision that this innovative technology will make “more effective treatments for serious human ailments” and may cure a number of genetic illnesses.

Furthermore, future research in embryonic stem cells can cure many other diseases. There are no limits on the type or number of diseases that can be treated using stem cells. For example, stem cells can treat patients with diabetes to replicate the appropriate amount of insulin needed. These types of treatments have been tested on mice with diabetes, and the results are very promising. According to Stanford Medicine Stem Cell Research, “Researchers altered embryonic stem cells to develop into insulin-producing cells normally found in the pancreas. When they implanted these cells into diabetic mice that lost the ability to produce insulin, the implanted cells produced insulin in a biologically normal way and treated diabetes”. Although this research is still in the early stages of being tested on other animals, it could one day transform the way diseases are cured. Another example of stem cell research could be “regenerating damaged neurons for spinal cord injuries”. Life-threatening illnesses such as chronic heart failure and neurological deficits from a stroke can potentially be reduced or even fully cured.

Stem cell research has critics too. It is often cited that human embryonic stem cell research is ethically immoral as it involves the termination of the embryo itself. The question of “when human life begins” has been highly controversial. Critics could easily say that the termination of an embryo is equivalent to a life being destroyed. Although the core of this claim seems plausible and to some extent valid, it has flaws in its factual evidence. Scientists have discovered a process to harvest embryonic stem cells without destroying the embryo. “Blastomere extraction is a newly researched method” that can obtain stem cells without damage to the embryo. Although this procedure is still in the experimental stages, “it has revealed positive results which can eventually replace the unethical process of embryos termination”. Although alternative harvesting methods exist, one should take into consideration that the embryos themselves are not actually living individuals. Biological evidence suggests that the “unfertilized embryo, which is comprised of the blastocyst, is not a living being”. The scientific basis for the beginning of human life is when a sperm and an egg unite to form a zygote. By this token, if an embryo has not been fertilized yet, it should not be considered a living being. The key argument that harvesting embryonic stem cells are immoral is based on the notion that the cells are living, which has major flaws. The majority argue that stem cells are not living as there are alternative harvesting methods.

To summarize, embryonic stem cell research should be continued and increased funding is needed as it saves lives. These types of research will generate new information and avenues to cure many congenital diseases. The potential economic and social benefits that embryonic stem cell research and procedure will open a new frontier in the future of medicine. The National Institute of Health must step up and act as an advocate for this research to facilitate groundbreaking treatments using stem cells. Without this, the advancement in treating genetic anomalies and congenital diseases will be significantly battered. It is time to advocate medical innovation with this a stride in the right direction.