By Aaron Zhao
Flaring in the sky is a dogfight between two groups; bioethicists and scientists. What instigated this controversy? Human stem cell research. To be more specific, scientists are conducting experiments at the expense of life. We are increasingly becoming more conservative when dealing with matters that involve the loss of human life (spark any abortion law notes?) and it is because of this that stem cell research is condemned by many. This debate resembles the abortion law contention, except that there is no “fetal heartbeat” legislation. Ethicists say scientists are using blastocysts, which are balls of cells that form five days after fertilization as lab tools, utterly neglecting the fact that they are human life. Let’s talk about it.,
Before we dip our toes into the debate, the idea of stem cell research needs to be explained. Stem cells are capable of becoming almost any cell of the body; liver cells, nerve cells, muscle cells, cartilage cells… With this amazing ability, damaged organs can self-repair, making stem cells prestigious in regenerative medicine. They take the form of two main types: somatic stem cells and embryonic stem cells. Somatics are found in not only young animals, but also the old. Constantly renewing themselves and replacing dead cells, (theoretically) they are capable of regenerating an entirely new organ. The obtaining of somatic stem cells doesn’t kill any embryos but obtaining embryonic stem cells does. Pluripotent stem cells – embryonic stem cells found in the inner mass of the blastocyst – are removed from embryos and grown into cell lines in labs in an attempt to turn them into adult stem cells. Many scientists choose embryonic stem cells over somatic stem cells because the former has more options when differentiating. Somatic stem cells are limited to a few different types of cells, while embryonic stem cells are much more diverse. This proves to be very effective in research and treatment of the ill.
Human stem cell research is still a fairly new idea. It was introduced in the year 1998, when scientists successfully removed embryonic stem cells from the human embryos. This success was inspired and fuelled by the ’81 lab experiment, where scientists removed stem cells from mice embryos.
How does stem cell research help us?
Stem cell research, in general, aims to provide new tissue and organs to injured patients. The replacement of deceased or lost cells can be used to treat burns, spinal cord injuries and many other diseases and injuries that were previously difficult to treat or cure. If someone has a cardiovascular disease worsened to the point where their blood vessels fail to serve dutifully, they could receive new blood vessels made from stem cells that function just as well as a real blood vessel would. In the future, stem cell research could mean an end to organ donation (which often involves a lack of donors).
We have already began to seen successful endeavours, featuring somatic stem cells. In the October of 2017, Anna Kuehl underwent a stem cell procedure that aimed to treat her macular degeneration (AMD), a condition in which her macula (of the retina) weakened. After treatment, her damaged vision disappeared and she was able to resume her daily activities, many inhibited from doing while she had AMD. Of course, this is somatic stem cells. Embryonic stem cells can be used in similar fashions.
From the looks of it, stem cell research is a path abundant of profits and benefits for society. Why are people still ramming against such a brilliant practice? Because they don’t understand.
The two E’s
Akin to the abortion law debate, we are murdering embryos, which should be given the rights anyone should have. Hmm… The generic argument. Let’s refute.
I agree that we are committing homicides on these young, little embryos. But if we don’t, others die. Around 10 million (and growing at alarming rates) people have Parkinson’s and 44 million have forgotten that they have Alzheimer’s. According to Alzheimers.net, there was an 89% increase of deaths amongst people with the disease between 2000 and 2014. And guess what? That percentage is only going one way. Up. However, the promises of human stem cell research is beaming at us from a distance. Damaged brain tissue that causes uncontrollable muscle jerks can be replaced with healthy ones. And this isn’t only limited to brain diseases. Human stem cell research aims to create new remedies in blood diseases, type I diabetes, cardiovascular diseases and loss of tissue from injury. What I’m trying to convey is this: People continue to die everyday because of these diseases and a lack of effective treatment. You’ll be killing people either way. You can choose between elders and embryos. The killing is inevitable, so choose wisely.
Clinics, stop wasting embryos
These embryos are acquired from donors who have given consent or couples who have “left over” eggs from in vitro.
In vitro fertilization is a method that allows women who can’t conceive naturally to conceive through a fertilized egg implanted in her uterus. The egg is fertilized in petri dishes and are placed in her uterus until one is implanted onto the lining of the uterus. What happens to the left over eggs? Do we throw them away? Or freeze them for future use? The couples of these fertilized eggs wouldn’t want them to be put to no use. Instead, they would want those eggs to be invested towards scientific research that can save the lives of many.
What are you going to do with those precious eggs?
Casting them into the trash bin is indistinguishable from “homicide”. You state that when scientists “kill” embryos or anything that could potentially become life, they are committing a crime and a violation of fundamental rights. Why are you targeting scientists (who use embryos conservatively AND for the benefit of you) when fertility clinics are dumping embryos by the million? Statistics have shown that nearly half of all the embryos made during IVF are discarded, the rest frozen. Since the August of 1991 when Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority was established in the UK, the world’s fertility banks threw away approximately 1.7 million embryos. That’s genocide and you know it. Leftover embryos will be deported to one of two places: the bin or the freezer. After placed in the freezer, many are still discarded once taken out. To be honest, I think the real ethics debate shouldn’t be on the embryos taken to labs, but the fact that clinics are freezing and thawing them like ice cream puffs.
Opponents of human stem cell research should not perceive the deaths of embryos as murders. Instead, they should see them as sacrifices. These embryos will help the medical field take massive steps towards a prospect that all will smile at; cures for incurable diseases. While it may seem unethical for the ethicists, the ultimate achievement of human stem cell research will reshape medicine for good.
For far too long, we have been driven by a mindset that puts “living comfortably with a disease” over “curing a disease”. That mindset is what we need to cure first. With the dozens of global problems blazing right now, we’re going to have to solve these problems as soon as possible before anarchy breaks loose. Disease is vexing the world right now, and we need all hands on deck to remove it. The hand we need the most is human embryonic stem cell research. Let’s begin Trial I.