© Cartoon: Monte Wolverton, Cagle Cartoons Project: Cynthia Kirkeby, ClassBrain

Amazing Stem Cell Facts

• President Bush vetoed legislation passed by both houses to expand federally funded embryonic stem cell research.
• Less than a week later the European Union agreed to assist member countries in financing embryonic stem cell research.
• Individual states and individual countries have been separately financing research in this area.
• "Stem cells have potential in many different areas of health and medical research. To start with, studying stem cells will help us to understand how they transform into the dazzling array of specialized cells that make us what we are. Some of the most serious medical conditions, such as cancer and birth defects, are due to problems that occur somewhere in this process. A better understanding of normal cell development will allow us to understand and perhaps correct the errors that cause these medical conditions." - (NIH)
• "Pluripotent stem cells offer the possibility of a renewable source of replacement cells and tissues to treat a myriad of diseases, conditions, and disabilities including Parkinson's and Alzheimer's diseases, spinal cord injury, stroke, burns, heart disease, diabetes, osteoarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis." - (NIH)
• It's not until the fifth week of pregnancy that the cells begin to differentiate into an embryo, prior to this time there is only a cell clusters, known as a blastocyst.

Questions to Ponder

• Will the House and Senate be able to overturn the President's veto of the stem cell research legislation?
  
  
• Do you think that it is possible to conduct stem cell research without violating human rights?
  
  
• Is it possible to put rules and regulations in place for stem cell research that would allow research to take place without compromising ethical issues related to the destruction of viable embryos?
  
  
• With the benefits of stem cell research posed to benefit so many people suffering from cancer, and other diseases, is there an imperative to find a solution to the moral concerns of some citizens?
  
  
• Is the ban on stem cell research in effect assigning the rights of an adult human to an embryonic cluster of cells?
  
  
• Should the government of the United States offer funding for embryonic stem cell research?
  
  

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