Embryonic Stem Cells

Unlike the various types of stem cell within the adult body, embryonic stem cells (hESCs) have the capacity to differentiate into every type of cell and are considerably more active. These qualities led many researchers to believe, at least initially, that embryonic stem cells were the holy grail of regenerative medicine and that these cells would become the foundation of treatments and therapies for previously incurable diseases. However, the ethical controversy surrounding stem cell research centers on hESCs, and there have been a variety of problems with the cells themselves in terms of controlling their growth and proliferation when inserted into living tissue. As federal funding for stem cell research involving embryonic stem cells was effectively halted for many years in the US, the focus of most scientists switched to adult stem cells as a source of potential treatments. Privately-funded research continued however, and the resulting information about hESCs is likely to be rapidly progressed now that federal funding legislation has relaxed slightly.

Embryonic Stem Cell Research and Blastocyst Death

Embryonic stem cells are responsible for creating every type of tissue in the body as they develop into a foetus at eight weeks. The blastocyst is the name given to the collection of around150 cells at 3-5 days after fertilization, with the inner cell mass of around 30 cells containing the pluripotent cells. These cells, taken from the interior cell cluster, invariably resulted in the death of the blastocyst in early-stage embryonic stem cell research. The death of the embryo during this process became, therefore, the primary focus of many people’s ethical opposition to embryonic stem cell research. However, in 2006, Lanza developed a technique whereby the inner pluripotent stem cells could be removed without destroying the blastocyst, which removed some of the concerns over hESC use.

Against Embryonic Stem Cell Research: Religious Opposition

Religious opposition to the use of human embryos in scientific research has come, for the most part, from various Christian organizations, with the Catholic Church, for example, viewing the embryo as a person with separate and recognizable rights and characteristics right from the moment of conception. No hESC research is, therefore acceptable by the Church’s doctrine. Conversely, many Islamic and Jewish scholars view it as both acceptable, and indeed obligatory, to use any surplus embryos from in vitro fertilization procedures to attempt to find treatments for chronic and incurable disease.

The funding of embryonic stem cell research has to a large extent been constrained by the conflation of Church and State in the US, despite many individual members of these religions citing support for such research. For many, the subject is simply too complex to comprehend making people easily susceptible to polemics from both sides of the debate. This poor understanding and lack of intelligent critical debate also leaves potential patients bewildered as to their options for treatment with embryonic stem cells and may make them more easily targeted by overseas clinics offering false hope.

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