Stem Cell Research Controversy

Stem cell research has become one of the biggest issues dividing the scientific and religious communities around the world. At the core of the issue is one central question: When does life begin?

Photo courtesy University of Wisconsin Board of Regents Microscopic 20x view of a colony of undifferentiated human embryonic stem cells

To get stem cells, scientists either have to use an embryo that has already been conceived or else clone an embryo using a cell from a patient's body and a donated egg. Either way, to harvest an embryo's stem cells, scientists must destroy it. Although that embryo may only contain four or five cells, some religious leaders say that destroying it is the equivalent of taking a human life.

Photo courtesy Roslin Institute Dolly (left)

Also at issue is the idea of cloning. If scientists can create an embryo in the lab, wouldn't they be able to implant that embryo into a surrogate mother's womb and allow it to develop into a baby? The idea of human cloning brings to mind frightening scenarios of babies genetically engineered to be "super-humans" with top IQs and super-hero-like physical capabilities; or babies created solely for the purpose of harvesting their organs. Cloning fears grew more fervent in 1997, when a group of Scottish researchers announced that they had successfully cloned a sheep named Dolly.

Even as scientists move forward in their understanding of stem cells and their ability to manipulate them, the ethical and political debates rage on. Many governments have placed tight restrictions on stem cell research or have tightly limited funding for it.

To bridge the debate, scientists are exploring less controversial avenues of research, using adult stem cells that are trained to act like embryonic stem cells, instead of creating a new embryo. Although they are not as pluripotent as embryonic stem cells, new research suggests that adult stem cells might be more flexible than scientists once imagined. Even if the outcome of the debate favors the use of stem cells, it will likely be at least a few more decades until stem cell therapies come into widespread use.

Stem Cells and Election Politics The stem cell debate became a hotbed issue in the 2004 presidential election. During the campaign, presidential candidate John Kerry said he wanted to lift the barriers standing in the way of stem cell research in order to treat or even cure the millions of Americans suffering from debilitating diseases. President George W. Bush said he would allow research using existing embryonic stem cell lines, but for ethical reasons he would not fund the creation of additional stem cell lines. President Bush won his second term in the White House.

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