Stem Cell Research
Cionne Nodd
What are Stem Cells?
Interesting Facts:
- In 1998, Jamie Thomson (1958-) and his team at the University of Wisconsin-Madison created the first human embryonic stem cell line (hESCs).
- Cloned genes are also used to produce pharmaceutical drugs, insulin, clotting factors, human growth hormone, and industrial enzymes.
- In 1995 Bill Clinton, signed a law banning federal funding to research where human embryos are destroyed or discarded.
Important Faces to Stem Cells:
Jaime Thompson
Dolly
Comments on the Topic:
Most laws were established due to fear of the public that science was now attempting to be God in a sense. And a repetitive issue of when human embryos are used a line is felt as if it’s being crossed because the public feels you are destroying life, basically committing murder. Stem cell research is highly dejected because the public feels a line is being crossed between faith and scientific realism. The use of human embryos scares people to the fact they feel it is a malicious intent, or murderous act.
Work Cited
Aldridge, Susan. "Stem Cells." Biotechnology: In Context. Ed. Brenda Wilmoth Lerner and K. Lee Lerner. Detroit: Gale, 2012. In Context Series. Student Resources in Context. Web. 6 Mar. 2015.
"Cloning." Genetics and Genetic Engineering. Barbara Wexler. 2009 ed. Detroit: Gale, 2010. Information Plus Reference Series. Student Resources in Context. Web. 6 Mar. 2015.
Davies, Bryan Thomas. "Stem Cell Laws." Biotechnology: In Context. Ed. Brenda Wilmoth Lerner and K. Lee Lerner. Detroit: Gale, 2012. In Context Series. Student Resources in Context. Web. 6 Mar. 2015.
"Stem Cells Controversies and Research." Science and Its Times. Ed. Neil Schlager and Josh Lauer. Vol. 7. Detroit: Gale, 2001. Student Resources in Context. Web. 6 Mar. 2015.