Adult Stem Cell Research

The best argument I have found to date on adult stem cell research is its lack of destroying an embryo to harvest the stem cells. Embryonic stem cell research involves creating an embryo in a lab and not implanting it into a womb. The professionals then dissolve most of the embryo in order to leave the stem cells in plain view. Adult stem cell research involves retrieving stem cells from a patient’s tissues and implanting them back into the same patient. They are usually taken during a biopsy and are grown in culture outside of the patient’s body. Although adult stem cells are harder to grow and it is difficult to say whether adult stem cells will specialize into cells other than where they came from, it is still less morally damaging than is embryonic stem cell research. Some researchers also claim the use of adult stem cells is more efficient than other forms of treatment. The cells are already specialized and are more likely to generate new cells. It is irrelevant that stem cells retrieved from a patient’s bone marrow are unable to become cardiac cells if the patient is only in need of more bone marrow cells.