Pathfinder for Federal Funding of Stem Cell Research
My grandmother begins her daily trek to the kitchen from
her bed in the room a mere twenty steps away.
She struggles to pick her body up from her sleeping position. Each step is painfully slow, her brain
screams to her legs to move but she freezes, nothing moves, and falls to the
ground. The neurons in from her brain
signaling her body’s movement fail to reach her legs. Her brain cells are slowly deteriorating, for
she is stricken in Parkinson’s disease.
These brain cells will never grow back.
Until November of 1998 there was no way to grow new brain
cells or other cells that do not develop after childhood. That month, two scientists discovered a
method to extract stem cells from a four-day-old embryo and cultivate them
until they developed into differentiated cells.
From these, brain cells could be developed to help the Parkinson or
Alzheimer’s patients. But, once the stem
cells were extracted, the embryo would then die. A flurry of ethical questions
were raised by this. Is it right
to kill a future human being for the possible help of another? Does this embryo deserve the moral status of
human being? The
However, this decision was not the correct one. Without this money this very promising
research cannot flourish to help so many people. The ethical questions raised over the killing
of one barely conceived embryo that is only a mass of cells to help a
debilitated person are not valid. A
four-day-old embryo is only a bundle of cells and has none of the
characteristics that make it an animal; no heart beat, no brain, no senses at
all, as meaningless as a colony of bacteria.
This human embryo of these characteristics does not deserve the rights
of a human being and should be subject to stem cell research to help the human
population.
The
sources mentioned in this pathfinder attack all sides of the issue, whether it
is the moral unacceptability of stem cell research, the benefits of the
research, or it’s scientific insignificance. Almost all of the sources I found were from
the subscription database Galenet because it
was a very expedient and accurate way to find many sources from a variety of
different mediums. It gave me magazine articles,
excerpts from a series of books, and excerpts from books themselves.
Books
Green, Ronald M. The Human Embryo Research Debate.
This book brings the ethical
issues to front of the table. It takes a
very in-depth look at both sides of the ethical issues and attempts to
determine the moral status of a human embryo.
It gives a very good background of the research with many helpful graphs
and pictures that further explain the writings.
This book written by Ronald Green who is the director
of the Ethics Institute at
The Human Embryonic Stem Cell Debate. Ed.
Suzanne
This book is a collection of
essays from scholars around the world looking at different aspects of the
issue. One looks at the industry
benefits of stem cell research, one from a scientist’s perspective, one from a
feminist view, and finally one from a very fundamental religious view. This book covers all these aspects in and the
editors provide analysis and their own views along the way. Overall, it is very informative and helpful
to understand the full potential of stem cell research.
Subscription Databases
Articles/Journals from Galenet:
"Embryonic
Stem Cell Research Is Beneficial" by National Institutes of Health. Human Embryo
Experimentation.
Roman Espejo, Ed. At Issue Series.
Greenhaven Press, 2002. Excerpted from
"Stem Cells: A Primer," by the National Institutes
of Health, www.nih.gov, May 2000.
Reproduced in Opposing
This article takes the
medical stance of the issue in an attempt to prove that stem cell research is
in fact beneficial. It gives very
informative background information and then goes to explain the process by
which stem cells are obtained. This
article is very informative and explains the potential promise of stem cell
research and is written by the very qualified personnel at the National Institutes
of Health.
"Embryonic
Stem Cell Research Should Be Federally Funded" by
Embryo Experimentation.
Roman Espejo, Ed. At Issue Series.
Greenhaven Press, 2002. Excerpted from "Stem
Cell Research: For Balancing Benefits, Ethical Values," by
Reproduced in Opposing
This article, written by
Lawrence Goldstein a professor in the Cellular and Molecular Medicine
Department at the University of California School of
Medicine, attacks the question of whether the government must give
funding. It brings up the point that
stem cell research will eventually be beneficial and as a private industry its
full potential will never be reached.
Thus, the funding must be given to these organizations and stem cell
research will then be able to prosper and achieve its potential.
"Human Stem Cell Research Is
Unethical" by The Center for Bioethics and Human
Dignity. Ethics. Brenda
Stalcup,
Ed. Current Controversies Series. Greenhaven Press,
2000. Reprinted from "On Human
Embryos
and Stem Cell Research: An Appeal for Legally and Ethically Responsible Science
and Public Policy," by The Center for Bioethics
and Human Dignity. Reprinted with permission.
Reproduced in Opposing
This article takes a
utilitarian approach to answering and attempts to answer whether stem cell
research will bring a greater good to the world. However, the authors contradict themselves in
conceding that the potential help of the research will bring a greater
good. Yet, they attempt to prove that in
the United States Constitution it says that life should be protected and stem
cell research would violate that right.
This article takes an in-depth look at the legality of stem cell
research and how that translates into ethics.
The authors of this article are the people at the Center for Bioethics
and Human Dignity, a center where scholars address contemporary bioethical
issues.
"Human
Embryo Experimentation Can Be Morally Justifiable" by Michael J. Meyer and
Lawrence J.
Nelson. Human
Embryo Experimentation. Roman Espejo, Ed. At Issue Series. Greenhaven Press,
2002. From "Respecting What We Destroy:
Reflections on Human Embryo Research," by Michael
J. Meyer and
2001 by The
http://www.galenet.com/servlet/OVRC
This article written by two
professors of the Santa Clara University in California seek to prove through
philosopher Mary Anne Warren’s principles of moral status that human embryos
used in stem cell research are being given the moral rights of they deserve. This complex and sometimes confusing article
takes an interesting look at the moral respect an embryo should receive and if
this is achieved during stem cell research.
"Research
Using Human Embryos Is Morally Acceptable" by Peter Singer. The Ethics of Abortion.
Jennifer
A.
Hurley,
Ed. At Issue Series. Greenhaven Press, 2001.
Reprinted from Peter Singer, "Stem Cells and Immortal Souls," Free
Inquiry, Spring 2000. Reprinted with permission
from Free Inquiry.
Reproduced in Opposing
Written by Peter Singer, a
professor of Bioethics at the
"Update:
Stem-Cell Research." Issues and Controversies,
This is a very informative
article giving a full history of the science of the stem cell research and then
delving into the debate itself. It
brings up both sides of the argument and explains the government’s stance on
the issue.
"President Bush's Address on Stem-Cell Research Funding." Issues and Controversies,
FACTS.com http://www.2facts.com
This article contains a
transcript of President Bush’s address to the nation concerning his stance on
stem cell research. It fully explains
their side of the issue and gives courses of action. Basically, Bush states that he feels stem
cells benefits, which are not yet achieved, do not outweigh its ethical
dilemmas.
I did not find any credible
or useful sites on the free web that would help me in my research.
I had a similar outcome with
gateway sites as they did not lead me to any credible specific sites as I felt
subscription databases are the best source for online searching.
Organizations,
Associations, and Experts
These are two very credible contacts by which one can receive information and also join in on the debate.
U.S. Department of Health and
Human Services
200
Telephone: (877) 696-6775
www.hhs.gov
Coalition for the Advancement
of Medical Research
1400 I St., N.W., Suite 530
Washington, D.C. 20005
www.stemcellfunding.org
Stem cell research; stem cell research debate, stem cell research funding; stem cell research ethics; science of stem cell research
Overall, the topic is a very recent issue to tackle and it is best to only look at sources that have been composed in recent years. As we do more research the information will be more readily available and we will have a better understanding of the benefits of stem cell research. It is necessary to look at subscription databases such as Galenet, which will give you very comprehensive findings from various mediums. Good luck with your research and hopefully this pathfinder will assist you in your investigation.
Barzin Nabet April 2003