Stem Cell Work

[jgh7]

I know research and work in the field of stem cells is a heated topic. There are numerous ways to get stem cells. Which ones do you consider acceptable or unethical? Do your religious beliefs affect your stance?

[benchwarmer]

[Replying to post 1 by jgh7]

This is an interesting topic, do you have some methods in mind you want to discuss?

Completely off the top of my head I would consider harvesting unborn human embryos as unethical. Though I'm no longer a Christian, I still hold onto the belief that once a human life has begun, terminating it is unethical for most circumstances. I realize that is a whole other can of worms, but closely linked.

It really all comes down to opinion when we talk ethics anyways.

I guess another interesting question would be are there methods that most people would agree is ethical? I'm sure you are always going to find some group of people who consider stem cell research to be the spawn of the devil so you likely won't get 100% agreement on anything.

[jgh7]

[Replying to post 2 by benchwarmer]

Well, I'm not sure all the possible ways to get stem cells. I just learned of an interesting way by my uncle who's a doctor. They get their stem cells by women who donate their placentas after birth. The placenta is a great source of stem cells and this has no affect on the baby.

But I am more curious about the controversial ways to get stem cells. As you said, one such way is harvesting unborn human embryos. Another controversial possible way is getting them from abortions where the embryo will be terminated anyways.

[DanieltheDragon]

[Replying to post 1 by jgh7]

This is an interesting topic, do you have some methods in mind you want to discuss?

Completely off the top of my head I would consider harvesting unborn human embryos as unethical. Though I'm no longer a Christian, I still hold onto the belief that once a human life has begun, terminating it is unethical for most circumstances. I realize that is a whole other can of worms, but closely linked.

It really all comes down to opinion when we talk ethics anyways.

I guess another interesting question would be are there methods that most people would agree is ethical? I'm sure you are always going to find some group of people who consider stem cell research to be the spawn of the devil so you likely won't get 100% agreement on anything.

The human embryonic stem cells come from left over frozen human embryos typically from in vitro fertilization. No one wants to pay to store them indefinitely so they either get thrown away or used for research. It seems rather silly to throw away not even a clump of cells in the name of "ethics". On the other side of the coin stem cells are already paying dividends in life saving medical research.

To phrase this as harvesting unborn human embryos seems misleading to me. These are not ever going to be born embryos. For those that claim it is unethical to do human embryonic stem cell research, should consider what in vitro fertilization is and how it relates.

[DanieltheDragon]

[Replying to post 2 by benchwarmer]

Well, I'm not sure all the possible ways to get stem cells. I just learned of an interesting way by my uncle who's a doctor. They get their stem cells by women who donate their placentas after birth. The placenta is a great source of stem cells and this has no affect on the baby.

But I am more curious about the controversial ways to get stem cells. As you said, one such way is harvesting unborn human embryos. Another controversial possible way is getting them from abortions where the embryo will be terminated anyways.

We can also get them from skin and fat cells. There are problems associated with these alternate sources though which is why researchers want to maintain human embryonic stem cells.

[benchwarmer]

[Replying to post 1 by jgh7]

This is an interesting topic, do you have some methods in mind you want to discuss?

Completely off the top of my head I would consider harvesting unborn human embryos as unethical. Though I'm no longer a Christian, I still hold onto the belief that once a human life has begun, terminating it is unethical for most circumstances. I realize that is a whole other can of worms, but closely linked.

It really all comes down to opinion when we talk ethics anyways.

I guess another interesting question would be are there methods that most people would agree is ethical? I'm sure you are always going to find some group of people who consider stem cell research to be the spawn of the devil so you likely won't get 100% agreement on anything.

The human embryonic stem cells come from left over frozen human embryos typically from in vitro fertilization. No one wants to pay to store them indefinitely so they either get thrown away or used for research. It seems rather silly to throw away not even a clump of cells in the name of "ethics". On the other side of the coin stem cells are already paying dividends in life saving medical research.

To phrase this as harvesting unborn human embryos seems misleading to me. These are not ever going to be born embryos. For those that claim it is unethical to do human embryonic stem cell research, should consider what in vitro fertilization is and how it relates.

I totally hear you and like I said 'can of worms'. I was actually thinking more along the abortion line, but yes unused embryos from IVF also falls in this same category.

The question becomes: Where do we draw the line?

After all, we are all just 'clumps of cells'. Size shouldn't matter, but clearly something does. That something will vary from one individual to the next.

Another question to ponder is: Does ground breaking research and all manner of useful medical knowledge trump ethical issues? I mean we could probably gain all kinds of useful info from experimenting on living, breathing humans too.

I really have no hard and fast answers, just my personal opinions.

[DanieltheDragon]

[Replying to post 1 by jgh7]

This is an interesting topic, do you have some methods in mind you want to discuss?

Completely off the top of my head I would consider harvesting unborn human embryos as unethical. Though I'm no longer a Christian, I still hold onto the belief that once a human life has begun, terminating it is unethical for most circumstances. I realize that is a whole other can of worms, but closely linked.

It really all comes down to opinion when we talk ethics anyways.

I guess another interesting question would be are there methods that most people would agree is ethical? I'm sure you are always going to find some group of people who consider stem cell research to be the spawn of the devil so you likely won't get 100% agreement on anything.

The human embryonic stem cells come from left over frozen human embryos typically from in vitro fertilization. No one wants to pay to store them indefinitely so they either get thrown away or used for research. It seems rather silly to throw away not even a clump of cells in the name of "ethics". On the other side of the coin stem cells are already paying dividends in life saving medical research.

To phrase this as harvesting unborn human embryos seems misleading to me. These are not ever going to be born embryos. For those that claim it is unethical to do human embryonic stem cell research, should consider what in vitro fertilization is and how it relates.

I totally hear you and like I said 'can of worms'. I was actually thinking more along the abortion line, but yes unused embryos from IVF also falls in this same category.

The question becomes: Where do we draw the line?

After all, we are all just 'clumps of cells'. Size shouldn't matter, but clearly something does. That something will vary from one individual to the next.

Another question to ponder is: Does ground breaking research and all manner of useful medical knowledge trump ethical issues? I mean we could probably gain all kinds of useful info from experimenting on living, breathing humans too.

I really have no hard and fast answers, just my personal opinions.

I think sentience is a more apt deliniater over whether something is a clump of cells vs life. Is an embryo sentient? Can an embryo survive without implantation or cryogenic freezing?

Using aborted embryos is no different then using aborted fetal tissue in medical research. The ethical delima to me in that area would arise out of farming pregnancies to abort for research tissue. However, if the abortion is happening with or without the research we might as well do the research.

[Kenisaw]

I know research and work in the field of stem cells is a heated topic. There are numerous ways to get stem cells. Which ones do you consider acceptable or unethical? Do your religious beliefs affect your stance?

Platelets. That's the little beauties that clot and heal cuts on your fingers for example.

Medical researchers have often wondered how the stem cells in platelets knew not only how to fix stuff, but what part of the body they were fixing. Turns out the stem cells in platelets are the universal type. There are some new plastic surgery techniques that harvest these stem cells from your own body's platelets, and then use them to refresh and renew the muscles that support your facial skin. My GP doctor happened to tell me about it during my yearly visit a couple of months ago. We is taking his state boards on it this month if memory serves me right.

No need to destroy embryos anymore. Win-win for everyone.

[DanieltheDragon]

[Replying to post 8 by Kenisaw]

Are you talking about Patlet derived growth factor?

[Kenisaw]

[Replying to post 8 by Kenisaw]

Are you talking about Patlet derived growth factor?

I think it is sometimes referred to as PRP.