What is stem cell research and why is it controversial?
Stem cell research is the research of stem cells and their use in modern medicine. What are stem cells? There are two types of stem cells: adult stem cells and embryonic stem cells. A stem cell can be defined as a cell that isn't specialized and can grow into a specialized cell. These are useful because they can replace damaged bones or muscle tissue. Adult stem cells only grow into the same type of cell as the tissue they reside in while embryonic cells have the potential to become a variety of other cells because they start out even less specialized than the adult stem cells. They can grow into a variety of cells such as bone cells and nerve cells. The use of embryonic stem cells is controversial because it involves taking cells out of a human embryo and in the process killing it. People believe that it isn't right to grow babies through in vitro fertilization just to take out the stem cells, preventing the baby from growing. Even though embryonic cells could in the future be used to treat a number of diseases and injuries that are not yet curable, the belief is that the cost of using embryos for this purpose is too much.