Issues with stem cells
There are clinical, ethicalRelating to right and wrong, eg ethical companies are often ones that act in a responsible way. and social issues with stem cell use. These issues will be different depending on the type of stem cells being used for growth and transplant:
- adult stem cellA type of stem cell found in specific locations in adults. Adult stem cells can only differentiate into a limited number of related cell types.
- embryonic stem cellA type of stem cell found in the embryo, capable of dividing into almost any cell type.
- therapeutic cloningUsing cloning technology for medicinal purposes. One example is to use a person's DNA to clone one of their organs for use in transplanting.
Issues will also depend on whether the stem cells are to be used for therapy or research.
It is important to obtain a balanced view. Sometimes, there are no right or wrong answers. Other times there are no answers at all. Some variables which would be considered when discussing stem cells include:
Clinical issues
- no guarantee of how successful these therapies will be, eg use of stem cells in healing damage caused by Parkinson's disease
- difficult to find suitable stem cell donors
- difficult to obtain and store a patient's embryonic stem cells
- mutationA random and spontaneous change in the structure of a gene, chromosome or number of chromosomes. have been observed in stem cells cultured for a number of generations - some mutated stem cells have been observed to behave like cancerA disease caused by normal cells changing so that they grow and divide in an uncontrolled way. The uncontrolled growth causes a lump called a tumour to form. cells.
- cultured stem cells could be contaminated with viruses which would be transferred to a patient
Ethical issues
- a source of embryonic stem cell is unused embryos produced by in vitro fertilisationWhen an embryo is created outside of the human body in a laboratory using sperm and an egg. Also known as IVF.
- for therapeutic cloning, is it right to create embryos for therapy, and destroy them in the process?
- embryos could come to be viewed as a commodity, and not as an embryo that could develop into a person.
- at what stage of its development should an embryo be regarded as, and treated as, a person?
Social issues
- educating the public about what stem cells can, and can't do, is important
- do the benefits of stem cell research and use outweigh the objections?
- much of the research is being carried out by commercial clinics, so reported successes are not subject to peer reviewA process by which a scientific report is reviewed and checked for accuracy by other science experts before being published in a journal or on an official science website.
- patients could be exploited - paying for expensive treatments and being given false hope of a cure when stem cell therapies are only in their developmental stages