Landis, Story C, James F. Battey, and Ronald D.G McKay. "Stem Cell Research at NIH." The National Institute of Health. 2007. 27 Mar. 2007 http://stemcells.nih.gov/research/nihresearch/.
In the last few years, stem cells have been written or talked about a great deal. Because this is such an important issue for all of us, the following 2 summaries give a brief overview of the importance in doing stem cell research.
The following is a summary of the article "Stem Cell Research at NIH" produced bye the scientists Landis, Battey, and McKay at the National Institute for Health(NIH). Stem cells hold great value becasue they have the ability to transform into a wide range of cells that are specialized. Understanding how cells become the specialized cells they do will help scientists understand both the normal development as well as when a stem cell develops into an abnormal cell. Although research on embryonic stem cells has been done since 1998, federal funds have only been available since 2001. Adult stem cells, not embryonic, have been the most widely used to treat certain types of cancer.
"Pros and Cons of Stem Cell Research." All About Popular Issues. 20 Mar. 2007 http://www.allaboutpopularissues.org/pros-and-cons-of-stem-cell-research.htm.
Embryonic stem cells are cells taken from an embryo at it's earliest phase of development. When taken at this early phase, up to 100 stem cells can be harvested to make a "stem cell line" where stem cells double every 2 or 3 days. In 2001, President George W. Bush okayed federal funding for research on a limited number of stem cell lines.
Embryoinc stem cell research is a difficult issue, because both groups-- for and against-- feel very strongly about the procedure. The group that opposes embryonic stem cell research believes the process kills a human life, while those that are for embryonic stem cell research believe the embryo has no "human features," and that the value of using a small number of human embryos outweighs the loss of life that happens when embryos are destroyed.
