If you had a chronic, life-changing, or life-threatening disease, how would you feel if there is a potential cure for your disease? Stem cells, specialized cells that can adapt and change to make up tissues and organs, can fix a variety of health complications and treat diseases. Until 2009, funding would not be provided to support stem cell research under the Bush administration. Consequently, the U.S. conducted far less stem cell research compared to other countries.  However, in 2009, Barack Obama created an executive order that provided funding for these scientific research programs (Lee & Griswold). More government funding should be provided to dramatically advance stem cell research because stem cells are extremely practical in either regenerative medicine or curing diseases, and stem cells can be used as alternatives to traditional medical practices. 

Stem cells can be used to repair damaged cells, tissues, and organs in regenerative medicine. In the field of regenerative medicine, the most applicable use of stem cells would be replacing diseased, damaged, or lost cells with healthy ones (Lee & Griswold). Embryonic stem cells could potentially be used to cure blindness in the eyes by reversing retinal degeneration, therefore fixing the eyesight of the individual (Lee & Griswold). Retinal degeneration is the process of the retina deteriorating, caused by the death of cells in the retina. Blind people face many challenges that a person with normal vision would not even consider, including locating their surroundings, finding suitable careers, and using technology. With stem cells, people who have gone through retinal degeneration can regain their eyesight. Stem cells not only can repair parts of the eye, but they can repair parts of the most complex organ, the brain. Parkinson’s disease, a disease caused by the lack of dopamine-producing cells in the brain, can be treated using stem cells (Lee & Griswold). Stem cell transplants can increase the amount of dopamine-producing cells in the brain, which will reverse the symptoms of Parkinson's. Michael J. Fox, an actor who was diagnosed with Parkinson’s in 1991, has been an activist for more stem cell research funding since stem cells can fix issues and complications with his dopamine-producing cells (Lee & Griswold).

Stem cells can be used in medical practices to cure a variety of diseases and health complications. The umbilical cord contains hematopoietic blood cells or cord blood stem cells which can be used for stem cell treatments (Lee & Griswold). “Since 1998, cord blood stem cells have been used to treat eighty-one diseases, including sickle cell anemia, multiple sclerosis, lupus, rheumatoid arthritis, juvenile diabetes, leukemia, lymphoma, and other carcinomas, including ovarian, blood and testicular cancers” (Lee & Griswold). On the other hand, adult stem cells, undifferentiated cells that replace dying cells, have been used to treat many diseases such as juvenile diabetes, multiple sclerosis, and heart disease since the early 1990s (Lee & Griswold). Not only can stem cells treat diseases with one gene, but they can also be especially beneficial for curing diseases involving multiple genes, including heart disease and diabetes. Multigenic diseases, diseases involving multiple genes and are influenced by the environment, are the diseases that stem cells have the most practical use for (Pearson).

Using stem cells in medical practices could be far more efficient than using traditional methods of medical practices. "We can make skin substitutes using cells from patients. There are adult stem cells in almost every organ of the body and these cells are potential sources of cells for skin regeneration," explains Saeid Amini-Nik, a stem cell biologist who spoke during the annual meeting of the Canadian Association of Wound Care (qtd in Gagnon). Skin substitutes using stem cells are more efficient than using skin grafting, the traditional method used to restore skin. Stem cells can be used for many other organs, especially if you need an organ transplant. Currently, there is a massive shortage of organ and tissue donors worldwide (Gagnon). More than 113,000 people are on the waiting list for an organ transplant (HRSA & U.S Department of Health and Human Services). Out of those people, 20 people sadly died because they were in desperate need of an organ transplant but they could not receive one in time (HRSA & U.S Department of Health and Human Services). Therefore, performing organ transplants is an inefficient practice due to the lengthy wait time. If stem cell therapy was introduced into medical practices, many lives would be saved because organ donors will have less demand.

While there is some controversy regarding the use of stem cells, ethical arguments regarding faith, beliefs, and the use of human embryos are not accurate in terms of scientific evidence. Some people believe that stem cell research is unethical because it destroys and wastes human embryos. However, stem cells from embryos come from eggs that were fertilized in vitro or in a laboratory environment, meaning they were created or donated specifically for research (Lee & Griswold). “Most of the controversy over stem cells arises from the need for human embryos. However, there is a vast and varied resource of embryos already available, created by in vitro fertilization (IVF) treatments” (Pearson). Over 100,000 frozen embryos are available from in vitro fertilization treatments, giving scientists a plentiful amount of embryos for stem cell research (Pearson). If these embryos are not used for any purpose, they would be thrown away, so using these embryos for stem cell research is the most useful purpose of these embryos. Therefore, scientists have the perfect reason to use human embryos for stem cell research without disregarding ethics. An additional concern for people is that stem cell research should not come from life because it is against their faith, beliefs, and moral values. Embryos do not become human beings until after 14 days (Pearson). Before 14 days, the embryos can easily be rejected by a woman’s body, which means that the embryos would have been useless in those scenarios (Pearson). Embryos are used before a 14 day period in stem cell research, which means human beings are not being used for embryo research. A standard for a fourteen-day cutoff has already been created in Great Britain, and many scientists believe this standard should be implemented in the United States (Pearson). Since the embryos are not humans yet, it would be strategic to use these embryos for stem cell research, and it will not go against people’s faith, beliefs, and moral values.

Because of the benefits of stem cells in regenerative medicine, curing diseases, and as an alternative to traditional medical practices, more government funding should be dedicated to stem cell research to advance this promising field. Stem cells are the doors to medical opportunities and advancements. Today, millions of people are affected by diseases that the most spectacular medical professionals are unable to treat. These diseases can make people fear the inevitable, which could possibly be a miserable future or painful death. With more advanced stem cell research, stem cells give people opportunities to live without medical complications. 

Works Cited

“Organ Donation Statistics.” Organ Donor, www.organdonor.gov/statistics-stories/statistics.html.

Lee, M., and Ann Griswold. “Point: Stem Cell Research Provides Cures for Diseases.” Points of View: Stem Cell Research, Dec. 2017, p. 2. EBSCOhost, search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=pwh&AN=26619743&site=pov-live.

Pearson, John. “Point: The Potential of Stem Cell Research.” Points of View: Stem Cell Research, Dec. 2017, p. 5. EBSCOhost, search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=pwh&AN=12462191&site=pov-live.

Gagnon, Louise. "Organic 'skin substitutes': diabetics, burn victims benefit from stem cell tech." Dermatology Times, Mar. 2017, p. 1+. Nursing and Allied Health Collection, link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A490275629/GPS?u=pchs11355&sid=GPS&xid=c91a7e12. Accessed 1 January 2021.