Discussion
Your assignment requires you to discuss risks and benefits in connection with embryonic stem cell research and to include a comment on the quotation from Text II in your discussion. In what follows we will present the risk and benefits of embryonic stem cells research as presented in the two texts and then help you comment on the quotation.
Risks and benefits of embryonic stem cell research
Both the article and the video are relevant sources that can help you discuss the risks and benefits connected with embryonic stem cell research.
As both texts explain, embryonic stem cell research refers to both research on cloned embryos and on donor embryos: “There are already trials taking place using stem cells taken from donated embryos to restore people's sight. However, these donated cells do not match the patient so they would be rejected by the body. Cloning bypasses this problem.” (ll. 10-13).
However, the article and video focus on embryonic stem cell research on cloned embryos. Stem cells are important for medicine because they can grow into almost any type of human cell and can be used to treat various diseases.
The main risks in connection with embryonic stem cell research are:
- According to Dr Lyle Armstrong, cloned embryos do not always develop to the stage in which stem cells can be collected. (Text I)
- An ethical consideration is that most people agree human reproductive cloning is dangerous and wrong; there is the possibility of the offspring developing malformations, like in the studied case of animals. (Text I)
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Comment
The quotation you have to comment on from Text II is: “Opponents of the new technique argue that (...) all embryos, whether created in the lab or not, have the potential to go on to become a fully-fledged human, and as such it is morally wrong to experiment on them.” (ll. 64-66).
The quotation explains the ethical concerns about human embryonic stem cell research. From an ethical point of view, any embryo, cloned or not, has the potential of becoming a human being. This implies that experiments on embryos are experiments on future human beings.
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