Stem Cell Research

Position Paper

Pro-Stem Cell Research should be federally funded without restrictions

Megan Sujkowski

We have broken our debate up into several key components that we believe exemplify and prove our point that federally funded stem cell research will benefit society and should not be restricted in order benefit the widest span of people and use the stem cells to their fullest potential. The major focuses of our debate are:

1. Economic advantages and growth

2. Scientific benefits of embryonic stem cells

3. The separation of church and state argument

4. Scientific support for the destruction of in-vitro embryos

5. Human cloning and its significance in the stem cell debate

6. Transhumanism and stem cells

Economic advantages and growth

Though there are 60 stem cell lines in existence, these 60 lines are divided between one dozen laboratories in at least five countries including The US, Australia, India, Israel and Sweden. This means that we don’t have 60 stem cell lines for American scientists to do research on (http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2001/08/20010809-1.html). As time goes on, many of these stem cell lines will die off or possibly be destroyed during research. When they are gone, research scientists will be forced to halt their research or leave the country for another that supports embryonic stem cell research from lines differentiated after 9 pm on August 9, 2001. In loosing many of the United States research Scientists, we would be losing a great economic gain as well. All of the funding that could be obtained from the advancement of science will now be going to other laboratories in other countries. To highlight economic facts and figures from just two states, we can see from New York and California, that embryonic stem cell research and the biotechnology field brings in a large amount of economic resources and will continue to do so. In New York, a 2005 estimate determined that the biomedical industry adds $30 billion dollars per year to the state economy, creating over 450,000 jobs. The biotechnology field adds another $18.1 billion and 110,000 jobs (Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute: University Presidents: NY must act on stem cell Research, obtained from lexisnexis). A quote from another article tells us that “California estimates that a $3 billion stem cell investment would pay off with $10 billion in job growth and economic development” (Brooks, Jennifer “States forge ahead with stem cell initiatives” Gannet News Service, Washington February 24, 2006, posted on lexis nexis). Further, with the restrictions placed on new lines, and the loss of the previously created lines of stem cells, when they run out, funding for universities, teaching hospitals and research laboratories will eventually run out, and they must seek profit and funding elsewhere. The more time that is dedicated into the conduction of profit producing research, the less attention can be focused on the promise profitable technology in the future.

Scientific Benefits of Stem Cell Research

Information on the whitehouse.gov website estimates that approximately 128 million Americans suffer from Parkinson’s Disease, Diabetes, and Heart Disease. These are only three of the diseases on which research is being done with embryonic stem cells to try and find a cure. We plan to focus specifically on what these treatments are and how they can help suffering patients. Specifically, injecting insulin producing cells into a diabetic pancreas, controlling neurons in the brain of a Parkinson’s Patient will be discussed (Freed, Curt. “Will Embryonic Stem Cells Be a Useful Source of Dopamine Neurons for Transplant into Patients with Parkinson’s Disease?” Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America Vol. 99 No 4). We will also discuss the pluripotentiality (differentiating into many different types of cells) of stem cells. The benefit of this being that there are no restrictions on what types of diseases research can be done to find cures. To quote Matthew Lensch, “These incredible cells will lead us to a greater understanding of human development and disease as long as we keep asking the right questions…I believe that science is conducted for the greater public good, whether the payoff is in improved health care or simply in obtaining greater knowledge about the world in which we live” (Lensch, M. William. “The Ethics of Stem Cell Research: A Personal View” Bridges April 14, 2005). To conclude the scientific argument, we will discuss how embryonic stem cells differ from adult stem cells and neo-natal cord blood stem cells. Primary information for this will be found at stemcells.nih.gov.

Separation of Church and State

Using the two articles published in the Teich reader, we will discuss the presence of the Separation of Church and how we feel that Bush is breaching this idea slightly when making a case for his decision to ban federal funding on new stem cell lines. We will highlight here guidelines to his policy and where we feel the guidelines cross a line in which he beings to enforce his moral values on the country. We will also use the article by Thomas Murray to support our argument that the policy should be amended.

1. Bush, George W. “Remarks by the President on Stem Cell Research” Teich, Albert Technology and the Future

2. Murray, Thomas H. “Hard Cell: A commentary on the President’s Stem Cell Address.”Teich,

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