What is stem cell research and why is it so contreversal?

im debating with a guy on u tube about animal testing im trying to research does animal testing really need to be done and im trying to find the alternative methods

What is stem cell research and why is it so contreversal?
With respect to your original debate issue, there are certainly some kinds of testing that can use tissue culture cells or other non-animal systems, but some kinds of testing can probably ONLY be done with whole organisms. Then you're limited to either animals or humans, and which would you rather use for testing?





Stem cells, by definition, are cells that can be grown infinitely in the lab, but which can, under the right conditions, develop into other differentiated kinds of cells such as nerve cells, muscle cells, blood cells.... Adult stem cells are derived from adult tissues and probably have a somewhat limited ability to produce all different kinds of cells. Embryonic stem cells probably have the greatest capacity for developing into all of the different types of cells in a body.





The controversy comes from how embryonic stem cells are produced. An egg is fertlized and allowed to develop for several days until it forms a blastula. Certain cells in the blastula (called the inner cells mass) are removed and grown in tissue culture. That destroys the embryo. Some people believe that destroying a developing embryo is equivalent to murder and so are opposed to the production of embryonic stem cells in this manner.
Reply:Stem cells are mother cells from which different specialized cells develop. For example, the mother cell of all cells within an organism is the fertilized ovum. From the fertilized ovum, or zygote, the organism develops comprising of all sorts of specialized cells such as blood cells, bone, skin, muscle, etc.





Stem cell research studies how to cause stem cells to develop needed cells and how to use these for medical, agricultural, and other purposes. Tension and motion, for example are needed to produce bones from the appropriate stem cells. Exercise, therefore is necessary to maintain healthy bones.





There are possibly endless advantages of applications of stem cells, some examples being those that follow.





1. Theoretically, using stem cells harvested from the patient himself, or cloned, using nuclei from ordinary cells from the patient, you can grow tissue needed by the patient. For example you can grow heart valve material to replace or repair a defective heart valve. You can even theoretically grow new teeth and new hair.





2. It is theoretically possible to reverse diseases such as parkinsons, cerebral palsy and diabetes by regenerating affected organs or body systems (e.g. nervous system) using stem cells.





3. It is also theoretically possible to develop any kind of organism exhibiting whatever kind of characteristics one may want, for example, disease-resistant, high yielding crops and livestock.





Some ethical issues regarding stem cell research include the following:





At what point in manipulating stem cells has the scientist overstepped his or her role as human being and started to play god, specially when the research involves genetic manipulation at the nuclear level (cloning, for example) to produce embryonic life?





As mentioned earlier the mother of all stem cells is the fertilized ovum. Embryonic stem cells--harvested from embryos--are the next most potent of stem cells, having the greatest potential, after the zygote, to develop into the widest variety of tissues. Therefore it is expected embryonic stem cell research will produce the most promising results.





While not all will agree that an embryo is a human-being, many, such as the Roman Catholic Church consider it such, and accord it rights similar, if not equal to a born human. To harvest embryonic stem cells, one has to destroy or terminate the life of the embryo. Issues raised would be similar to those raised against abortion.





There are also ethical objections to the production of human embryos for research, or, for many, even the use of embryos left-over from in vitro fertilization work-ups ("test tube babies") undertaken by childless couples.





If animal testing is ethically objectionable, it would stand to follow that testing human life forms (a term some people give to human embryos--if they are not fully human beings, they are at least human life forms), or destroying these to do testing, even if some will not consider them human beings at the embryonic stage of life, would also not be ethically acceptable.





However, it is possible to research on non-embryonic stem cells. Umbilical cord blood has produced stem cells, and stem cells have been harvested in different parts of the body. Research has also shown the possibility of manipulating a stem cell to develop into a more primitive stem cell, with the potential of developing more kinds of different cells. Non-embryonic stem cell research does not carry the ethical questions embryonic stem cell research does.





It is possible to develop tissues from non-embryonic stem cells and test these.