Imagine that you or a loved one has Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, or another terminal illness. Would you use a cure that originated from embryonic stem cell research?
Post your two-paragraph reply to the prompt and then thoughtfully reply to two others’ posts for the 5-point maximum. See the rubric below, or click the three dots above and “Show Rubric”.
Just to be clear…
Many people are under the false impression that the embryos used in research come from aborted tissue. Not so! The eggs and sperm are combined in a lab, and were never intended to be implanted in a uterus. There are extra embryos that some couples have frozen in storage after attempting in vitro fertilization. If the couple decides to not implant these, they may choose to donate them for research purposes.
Another fact: when a woman is pregnant and choose to abort, she is MUCH further along in the pregnancy than the cells used in research. Stem cells are harvested only a few days after fertilization, in the lab. A woman who conceives isn’t aware that she’s even pregnant until at least two weeks after fertilization…long after the cells have started to differentiate, making them useless in stem cell research.
There ARE adult stem cells as well. Some people have their own stem cells harvested from their bone marrow to use in treating their own damaged tissue — but it might not be quite as potent or versatile as the embryonic stem cells.
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