ShazeenaAshraf

Mr.Lytle
Rhet1312
31January2016

StemCellResearchersmuststayengagedbyMartinPeraandAlanTrounson

CenturiesoldquestionwhethermanshouldplayGodisarisingagainasscientistsfind
newwaystocreatehumanbeingsinthesensethattheyreusinghighendtechnologytoclone
stemcells.Whenthingslikethiscomeabout,therearesomanythingstoconsidersuchasones
ethics,morals,religion,culture,andbeliefs.Still,thisbiologicalphenomenoninterestsmanyin
searchforadvancementintheirfieldormajorlikebiology.Therefore,authorslikeMartinPera
andAlanTrounsonpresenttheiropinionthatscientistsshouldcontinueonwiththeirresearchin
hopeofahugebreakthroughthatwilleventuallychangethewayhumansdealdiseasesand
cancer.
Inthesummerof1996,theworldwasshockedwiththebirthofDolly,asheepthatwas
clonedfromanadultsomaticcell.Fromthatpointon,manyscientistshaveattemptedtoclone
variousanimalsthuspresentinganothercontroversialquestionthatisitokaytocloneanimals
andnothumans?Theauthorsofthearticleclaimthatifonewastoactuallymakehuman
embryosfromtheinducedpluripotentstem(iPS)cells,therecouldbemanyusesthatwould
immenselyhelpthehumansocietysuchasstudyingthecauseofhumaninfertility,regenerating
lostorgancellsthuscreatingfunctioningorgans,andevengeneticallymodifyingthegermlineto
preventdiseases.Notonlythat,butaccordingtothearticlethescientificresearchofthestem
cellscanhelpusbetterunderstandcancerandthuspreventitoverall.

However,notallscientistsbelieveweshouldcontinuestemcellresearch.Firstofall,this
typeofresearchrequireshugesumsfundingandmanytimesitcanbedifficulttoobtainthe
moneyneeded.Mostofthetimes,thesedonorsdonotappreciateorunderstandwhatthese
scientistsaretryingtodoanddonotwanttowastetheirmoneythuslimitingtheadvancementof
scientificresearch.Evenwhenonedoesgainthemoneytheyneed,theyhavetodoextensive
amountofwork,puttingeveryounceoftimeandenergytheyhave.Howeverthisisnothing
comparedtothepublicoutrage.Theyhavetoovercomethesehurdlesofdealingwiththe
societysethics,opinions,andbeliefs.Sothismakesthescientistsifthepublicdoesn'twantthis
thenwhyshouldtheyevenputtheeffortintoitwhyshouldtheyplayGod.Theauthorseven
suggestasolutionastohowthepublicshouldbeinformedbyinsteadofconfrontingthepublic
withcontroversialtopicsoutoftheblue,thescientistsshouldgatheranddiscussthepresent
andfuturecourseofhumanembryoresearchandthencreateaprogramastohowtheyshould
proceed.
Theauthorsprovetheiropinionsbypresentingadatagraph,includingexamplesof
scientistswhohaveactuallyclonedhumanembryos.Notonlythat,buttheyalsogivefamous
researchstemcellunitswhereallthisresearchactuallytakesplacethusenhancingtheir
credibility.Theyalsotalkaboutatopicthatwouldhavesundryresponsesfromtheaudience,
whowouldbeaspiringscientists.

Byalteringthestemcells,thescientistsarebasicallycreatingwhatscalledautopian
societybecausetherewouldnocancers,diseases,oranyotherproblemssincetheseproblems
willbefixedintheembryonicform.

Severalbiologistshavearguedthattransferringnucleifromthesomaticcellsofhumans
totheeggsofanotherspecies,suchasthosefromthefrogXenopuslaevis,mightbea
powerfultoolforunderstandingthereprogrammingprocessinhumancells
somescientistscompletelyignoreethicsandcontinueontoclonestemcells
iPScellscanreplenishtissueandembryonicstemcellsareacloneofthewholehuman
being
questionwhethercloningshouldbepreceded?andwhodoesitbenefit
whethertheyshouldcloneorwhattheyshoulddowithitafterwards
theauthorsuggeststhat
theauthorisprostemcellresearchandenforcestheideaofcontinuingthesearch
theopinionissometimesbasedontheamountofeducationonehas
discussionoffrankenstein
canmanbegod?shouldmanplaygod?
thefinalquesitononeneedstoaskisallthisreallyworthitintheend?
evenintheend,therearestillcomplicationssuchasgeneticabnormalities
Oneprocedurethathasgeneratedmuchethicalcontroversyissomaticcellnuclear
transfer(SCNT),ortherapeuticcloning.UsedbyMitalipovandhiscolleagues,this
involvestransferringthenucleargenomeofanadultbodycell,suchasaskinorlivercell,
intoanunfertilizedeggfromwhichthenucleushasbeenremoved
BiologistsinitiallyenvisionedSCNTasawaytoproducepatientspecifictissuesneeded
fortransplantations
WethinkthatSCNTshouldbepermittedtofacilitateexperimentsinvitro,butnotto
developalivehumanorhumananimalhybrid
itdoesraisethequestionofwhetheritisacceptableforchildrentohavethreegenetic
parents:themotherwhodonatestheeggnucleus,thefatherwhodonatesthesperm
nucleusandanotherwomanwhodonatesthemitochondrialDNA

conclusiontalkaboutthecouplewhoclonedtheirdoginenglandthusconveyinghow
wearemovingtowardsanunknownfutureandhowstemcellisourfuture
thusitisourtimetodecideifthisisokayornot

WorksCited
Pera,Martin,andAlanTrounson."CloningDebate:StemcellResearchersMustStayEngaged."
Nature
498(June13,2013):15961.Web.