Embryonic Stem Cell Research

“According to the President's Council on Bioethics (P.C.B.E.), the term stem cells refers to diverse group of remarkable multipotent cells. While stem cells are relatively undifferentiated and unspecialized, they can and do give rise to the differentiated and specialized cells of the body (for example, liver cells, kidney cells, brain cells). All specialized cells arise originally from stem cells, and ultimately from a small number of embryonic cells that appear during the first few days of development.”(“Monitoring Stem Cell Research” 2) There are two different types of stem cells primarily worked on by the majority of researchers, adult and embryonic. Through various tests and research, adult stem cells have been found to benefit fifty eight different medical conditions(qtd. in Gewertz). Embryonic stem cell research, which is still relatively new compared to its adult counterpart, has yet to prove any major benefits towards the cure or treatment of any medical conditions. Though scientific research has advanced recently, discovering remedies for serious and chronic diseases, embryonic stem cell research has created a debate about the ethical and moral value of the human embryo.

In order to find a cure for many different diseases and conditions scientists began studying embryonic stem cells. Human embryonic stem cell research only dates back to 1998, when University of Wisconsin biologist James Thomson isolated and cultured the very first human embryonic stem cell, unlike its adult counterpart which dates back to the early 1960s (Wikipedia)These stem cells come from human embryos created in a laboratory through in vitro fertilization. Scientists inject the embryo with sperm and after about four or five days it turns in to a blastocyst. At this point the blastocyst can either be implanted in a females womb, frozen and implanted at a later date, or used for research. When used for research, the scientists remove the stem cells from the inside of the blastocyst, which then destroys the embryo. The scientists then can, through a series of processes, treat the stem cells to develop into different types of tissue cells, muscle cells, nerve cells, and other various cells. That very same year John Gearhart a biologist at John Hopkins Medical Center in Baltimore, Maryland and his colleagues derived a human embryonic germ cell. Embryonic germ cells are similar to embryonic stem cells in that they can develop into various cells in the body, but they are harvested further in the developmental stage of the embryo between five to nine weeks. These two discoveries were a giant leap in the field of stem cell research. As well as the methods listed above, there are other sources of stem cells, such as umbilical cords and bone marrow, otherwise known as adult stem cells. Embryonic stem cells are thought to have the most flexibility because they are able to be developed into more tissues and/or cells than the other methods (National Institutes of Health, Stem Cell Information.)

Embryonic stem cell research began in the early 1980s on laboratory animals, but was not pioneered on human tissue until 1998 as mentioned before. However five years earlier, the National Institutes of Health (N.I.H.) created a nineteen member Human Embryo Research Panel whose job was to set the guidelines for permitted embryo research in the United States (Johnson CRS report for Congress, Human Cloning 4.) In 1996 as directed by President Clinton the N.I.H. attached a rider to their guidelines prohibiting N.I.H. funding for research on human embryos if they are destroyed or discarded (Johnson CRS report for Congress, Human Cloning 4.) In 1998 President Clinton directed the National Bioethics Advisory Commission (N.B.A.C.) to review their policies on embryonic stem cell research and by September 1999 they had decided to change polices to allow funding for embryonic stem cells derived from fertility treatments. Soon after the N.I.H. issued guidelines that allowed federal funding for embryonic stem cells as long as the destruction of the embryo was carried out by private funding. Later that year the funding issue was challenged with Doe V. Thomson, in which the National Association for the Advancement of Preborn Children (N.A.A.P.C.) filed for an injunction against embryonic stem cell research. In this case the N.A.A.P.C. argued that embryos were “born” in the United States and the Clinton administration's policy did not allow the right to due process or equal protection. The case was dropped due to the 2000 election of President Bush and changing of the policies regarding stem cell research (Robertson 2.)

After President Bush's election, stem cell research was one of his many focuses during the beginning of his presidency. By August 9, 2001, President Bush had reached a compromise with researchers. The government would continue to fund embryonic stem cell research except for any stem cell lines