Stem cells are a huge issue in today’s society. There is a huge controversy on whether or not stem cells are useful or destructive. While some people argue that Embryonic stem cells are possible life forms because they are derived from blastocysts (3-5 day old embryos), others, like myself, counter that stem cells would be useful for scientific research to help cure physical injuries or diseases such as Parkinson’s Disease. They also have the ability to replenish or replace old cells in a living being, and they have the option to keep being a stem cell, or to become a cell with a more specialized function, such as a red blood cell, or a brain cell.
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While extracting embryonic stem cells from an embryo that help it grow may be considered as taking a possible life, how do we measure what is a life? Is life the beginning of an embryo? Or is a life when a baby opens its eyes for the first time? Or is it someplace in between? There are so many definitions or life that we can’t honestly say that a blastocyst is a definite life. And if a blastocyst is considered a life, then I think it justified to take from that one small life to help cure thousands of other ones.
Another amazing fact about stem cells is that if a stem cell is pluripotent, then it can become a cell with a specialized function: muscle cell, skin cell, nerve cell red blood cell, or a brain cell. There are three other types of cells – multipotent, unipotent, and totipotent, All the types of stem cells also have the option to remain a stem cell. Stem cells also serve as an infinite internal repair system in many tissues, because they renew during mitosis and then divide endlessly to repair, replenish, or replace other cells and organs as long as a being is still living. These repair systems are helpful to many diseases or injuries such as Parkinson’s, Alzheimer’s, strokes, burns, spinal cord issues, Type 1 Diabetes, heart disease, leukemia, and even cancer. In tissues like the gut and bone marrow, they regularly divide to repair and replace worn out tissue.
Stem cells are marvelous because of the fact that they can help with so many internal issues that all bodies have. They would be a great advancement in scientific discovery and in medical healthcare if people would understand the fact that although one life would be sacrificed, hundreds of thousands would be spared. People all around the world need to realize the use of stem cells. A revolution in science would be beneficial right……..NOW.
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