Arguments For Stem Cell Research

          The people who favour embryonic stem cell research are mostly scientists, and they have many arguments. The first of these arguments is called utilitarianism, which is about how the benefits of stem cell research outweigh the ethical problem of destroying embryonic life (Wikipedia, 2008). An example of utilitarianism is that embryonic stem cells have the capacity to grow a lot in a lab and can differentiate into almost all types of bodily tissue. This makes embryonic stem cells a good source for cellular therapies to treat many diseases. Also the social, economic and personal costs of the diseases that embryonic stem cells can cure are far greater than the costs associated with the destruction of embryos.

          Another argument for research of stem cells retrieved from embryos is human potential and humanity, which is a similar argument to utilitarianism (Wikipedia, 2008). According to Wikipedia (2008), the argument of humanity is about how embryos are not technically life when they are inside the womb, but instead are merely potential for life. Also, the argument says that a blastocyst, which changes into an embryo, is a group of human cells that have not differentiated into anything yet; making cells of the inner cell mass no more "human" than a skin cell. Another thing that the scientists who favour stem cell research say is that the ends (saving people who are already living) justify the means (killing things that are not alive yet).

          The scientists also say that stem cell research is efficient as well, which means that if an embryo is going to be destroyed anyway, it is better to use it for good than to waste it (Wikipedia, 2008). In vitro fertilization (IVF), which is when an egg is fertilized in a lab, generates large numbers of unused embryos. Many of these thousands of IVF embryos are slated for destruction but instead scientists say that they could use them for scientific research which utilizes a resource that would otherwise be wasted.Wikipedia (2008), also suggests that abortions are legal in many countries and a logical argument is that if these embryos are being destroyed anyway, why not use them for stem cell research?

          The final argument used by those who would like to advance the research of embryonic stem cells is superiority, that embryonic stem cells can be considered a lot better therapeutically than adult stem cells (Wikipedia, 2008). Embryonic stem cells are easier to grow into cultures; they divide quicker, and they are much more abundant than adult stem cells, not to mention that embryonic stem cells can treat a wider range of diseases than adult stem cells (Wikipedia, 2008). There are just as many arguments against embryonic stem cells as there are for, but the biggest question is the grey area between where human life begins, whether it is in a fertilized egg, in the womb, or when the fetus can survive independently from the mother.