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Invaluable Embryonic Stem-Cells Research

Embryonic Stem Cells (ESCs) Research is back in the news again.

Unfortunately, it is under the political and religious pressure. ESC
is moving at a slower pace at the expense of, as stated by the
White House, “millions of people who suffer from life destroying
diseases.” Unlike abortion, the purpose of ESC research is to cure
potential diseases and disabilities such as Parkinson’s disease,
diabetes, Alzheimer’s, stroke, and spinal cord injuries.

Despite its good intentions, ESC research was considered

manipulation and destruction of a life form; as Pope John Paul II
clearly stated, “embryonic research is morally unacceptable.”
This ongoing debate is one of the most controversial topics does
not seem to be ending any time soon, but time is running out for
those suffering from the diseases. While some are lying in bed,
others are in wheelchairs waiting in hope that one day they will
have a chance to live their lives with more certainty. To them,
ESC research is a possible hope, and hope is sometimes all
expecting patients have.

The Invaluable Embryo

There are various ways to obtain stem cells: blood cells
(extracted from the umbilical cord blood, after a baby is born),
bone marrow donation (from existing human beings), and the ESCs
from the fertility clinics. Among those, ESC is the most
questionable and objectionable by various parties because of
ethic issues involved.
Is Embryo A Life Form?
It is not the advance technology that has made ESC research
controversial, but because we each hold different value systems.
These belief systems then transcend into measuring sticks —
either visible or invisible ones.
Why should we support embryonic stem cells research? The
answer is straightforward. These embryos are flexible and have
more potential than the adult stem cells, according to the
National Institutes of Health (NIH), “Embryonic stem cells can
become all cell types of the body because they are pluripotent.
Adult stem cells are generally limited to differentiating into
different cell types of their tissue of origin”, once introduced
into the human body, it has the ability to repair the damaged
tissues; scientists hope that one day, they could use stem cells as
a promising avenue to cure the dying patients.

Conflicts arise when two people interact with each other trying to
measure up with their own sets of measuring sticks. Often times,
we impose our views towards counterparts and fail to look at
issues from a larger standpoint. Physicians, for example, had to
adopt the Catholic Church’s view on life. According to Richard
Doerflinger, the Deputy Directory of the Secretariat for Pro-
Life Activities at the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops,
physicians are bond by the code of ethic stated in the
“Declaration of Geneva,” practicing physicians had to swear “I will
maintain the utmost respect for human life, from the time of
conception” and “No experiment should be conducted where there
is a prior reason to believe that death or disabling injury will
occur…”

What is Life?
So, what is life? Let’s take a look at Aristotle’s epigenesis and
preformation theories. His theories had a great influence in our
society. Although Aristotle’s belief “a form of an animal emerges
gradually from a relatively formless egg” according to Dr.
Campbell, Reece, and Mitchell, authors of Biology, has been
completely discarded by modern biology. However, Aristotle’s
concept on preformation for “something is preformed in the
zygote” is credited with having a profound influence on popular
opinion in this area. Similarly, the Catholic churches also
recognize that each human being is created by God at the
moment of conception or fertilization.

Scientists, on the other hand, have a different view on what is

life, they argue that ESC’s are pluripotent, ESC’s hold the
possibility of developing into any organ of the body, yet,
according to National Institutes of Health (NIH), “[ESCs] are
typically four or five days old and are a hollow microscopic ball of
cells called the blastocyst.” In addition to that, Dr. Richard
Maurice in his article titled “Key Ethical Issues in Embryonic
Stem Cell Research” published for the Department of the
Parliamentary Library in Australa, “the probability of IVF
embryos developing into full-term successful births is low. There
is a high rate of fetal loss in early embryos-up to 73 percent in
pre-implantation embryos.” Thus, I do agree with Dr. Richard,
“[E]mbryos do not have the psychological, physiological, emotional,
intellectual properties that we tend to centrally associate with
personhood.”

Of course, one must not under mind the Catholic churches

efforts trying to reserve the dignity that of a human. The
intention of the Catholic churches was to prevent human beings
from becoming subject matter for science, much like what
happened during the holocaust in the World War II. Nonetheless,
I found it hard to support Pope John Paul II, “Human embryos
obtained in vitro are human beings…” Because I am side with Dr.
Richard, “Embryos, particularly the very early pre-implantation
blastocysts…do not…have consciousness, individuality, the ability
to reason, or the ability to form courses of action in life and to
choose between them.”

Whose view of life: Taking lives or saving lives?

Proponents have raised a philosophical question if it is moral for
one to save life; you have to destroy another, or whether an
existing living life has more intrinsic value than that of a cell. I
would like to touch on the eudaimonism; the infamous and the
well-known relationship between virtue and rightness philosophy
proposed by Aristotle.

I personally believe life has its purpose, and the entire system is
in circular form – birth, growth, mature, decease, and eventually
return back to the earth, the whole cycle then, repeats itself. To
complete this cycle, many living organisms were involved along the
process. Some may live for a full cycle, many don’t, just as
depicted by Aristotle that some things were done for their own
sake, and some things were done for the sake of other things.

Many of the “artificially” created embryos from the laboratory

have the potential to save lives that already demonstrate physical
traits as human beings. Instead of supporting the life saving
technology that benefits many, opponents, particularly the
religious party made it clear that by harvesting embryonic stem
cells is by all means killing other human beings, and stated their
position that they will not make compromise nor be tolerated on
stem cell research regardless that the lifesaving science has
great potential to save lives. I don’t see it as morally acceptable
to dispose of ESCs instead of using it for saving lives and possibly
keeping the dignity of those who suffer.
Living Well: A Hope for the Hopeless
Life is all about making choices. Our ability to make choices allows
others to hold us responsible for those decisions. In order to
achieve something; we have to give up something. That’s the
opportunity costs we are facing and cannot avoid; the best we can
do is just simply make the best choice.

Now ESCs research is moving at a slower pace due to lack of

federal funding. Many celebrities including Nancy Reagan, Michael
J. Fox and the deceased Christopher Reeves are the best
spokespersons and supporters for the future of ESC funding. In
September 2005, there will be a roll call vote on a bill to provide
federal funding for ESCs. If President Bush vetoes this bill, the
fate and the future of ESC research will be in the hands of the
House and Senates. Without two thirds of the House and Senates
to enact the bill, it will be just like those discarded embryos,
never had a chance to see the light.

While people pray for the unborn, and the Vatican prays to stop
this research, people suffer. Alex Kassorla, for example, the 7-
year-old-girl who suffered a spinal cord injury at age 3 is sitting
on the wheel chair, and among those to promote stem cell
research. ESC research will help to stop the suffering of the
living and of the many unborn generations who follow us into life.
Let’s not let our generations down.

Footnotes
1. According to the National Institute of Health (NIH),
embryonic stem cells are derived from embryos that develop
from eggs that have been fertilized in vitro—in an in vitro
fertilization (IVF) clinic—and then donated for research
purposes with informed consent of the donors. They are not
derived from eggs fertilized in a woman’s body … are typically
four or five days old and are a hollow microscopic ball of cells
called the blastocyst.
Blastocyst is 5-6 days after fertilization, the egg develops into
the cell ball pictured in the image, which is called blastocyst by
developmental biologists. At the depicted stage the ball is hollow,
consisting of an envelope of cells, surrounding the inner cell mass
(ICM) from which the embryonic stem cells are gathered.
2. According to National Institutes of Health (NIH), pluripotent
includes three structures: the trophoblast, which is the layer of
cells that surrounds the blastocyst; the blastocoel, which is the
hollow cavity inside the blastocyst; and the inner cell mass.
3. Aristotle’s epigenesis recognized the organism was not yet
formed in the fertilized egg, but that it arose as a consequence
of profound changes in shape and form during the course of
embryogenesis. 4. According to Campbell, Reece, and Mitchelle,
preformation is a “homunculus” inside the head of a human sperm.
According to one version of the preformation idea, a sperm
contains a preformed, miniature infant, which simply grows in size
during embryonic development. This engraving was made in 1694.
5. Eudaimonism: Actions are not pointless; they have an aim, a
goal. Every action aims at some good … some things are done for
their own sake (ends in themselves) and some things are done for
the sake of other things (means to other ends).

References:
Buckley W. Don. Morally Healthy Cells. 155:7 August 2005. Text
from Wilson Web. 1 September 2005. Campbell, A. Neil, Reece, B.
Jane. Mitchell, G. Lawrence. Biology. 5ed. Benjamin/Cummings:
CA, 1999. Chaves, Paul. Feinstein, Schwarzenegger Back Cell
Study. Page image from WashingtonPost.com. 23 August, 2005. .
23 August, 2005. CNN News: Pope condemns human embryo
cloning. 29 August, 2000. 20 August 2005. . (17 paragraphs).
Doerflinger M. Richard. U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops 29
September 2004. . (pp. 13) Dr. Richard, Maurice. Key Ethical
Issues in Embryonic Stem Cell Research. 2002 24 August 2005.
(pp 8-11). McCloskey, Patrick. Is Stem-Cell Research Moral? 24
August 2005, . (9 paragraphs). Kahn, Jeffrey P. CNN News:
Embryonic Ethics. 1 June, 2005. 20 August 2005. . (9
paragraphs). National Institutes of Health. Stem Cell
Information: Stem Cell Basics. 24 August 2005. . (9 paragraphs)
National Institutes of Health. Stem Cell Information: Stem Cell
Basics 24 August 2005. . (4 paragraphs). Shoemaker W. David.
Embryos, Souls, and the Fourth Dimension. 31:1 S51-75. Full Text
from Wilson Web, January 2005, 1 September 2005 (pp. 1). The
White House: Stem Cell Fact Sheet. 9 august 2001. . 1 September
2005.