Essay Example on Stem cell research & therapy

Stem cell research is taking stem cells from human embryos and using them for different things The cells can be used to replace neurons damaged by spinal cord injury stroke Alzheimer's disease Parkinson's disease or other neurological problems California Stem Cell Agency 1 The use of the stem cells can help people with spinal cord issues and other diseases Stem cell research is a topic that everybody has different opinions on There are many pros and cons of each side Most of the pros for stem cell research have to do with medical issues The controversy over stem cell research has led to intense debates People for it argue that it can help treat and possibly cure Parkinson's disease Alzheimer's disease heart disease diabetes birth defects spinal cord injuries and playing a major role in cancer People arguing against it say that you shouldn't mess with human life or that you shouldn t test fate Embryonic stem cells are stem cells that are obtained from embryos Currently most of the procedures to obtain these stem cells will result in the destruction of the embryo Embryonic stem cell research uses cells found in 3 5 day old human embryos In a 2004 poll by Gallup 76 of Democrats supported easing government restrictions on stem cell research 12 of Democrats endorsed doing away with or greatly reducing research restrictions and 8 supported no funding at all Republicans were divided with 37 supporting expanded research and 36 favoring continued restriction at the current level Republican views 1 

The National Institutes of Health NIH released guidelines for stem cell research These guidelines went into effect in August of 2000 The guidelines state that the human embryonic stem cells must be obtained with private funds from frozen embryos from fertility clinics That they must have been created for fertility treatment purposes That they be in excess of the donor s clinical need and that they be obtained with consent of the donor Then in 2001 President Bush created a new law about embryonic stem cell research President George W Bush prohibits the federal funding of any research using ES cell lines derived after August 9 2001 but his policy does not affect research in the private sector or research conducted with state funding The President claims that more than 60 stem cell lines are still available for funding Research on adult stem cells is not affected by this executive order Research America 1 Congress passed The Stem Cell Research Enhancement Act which would make for money in federal funding for stem cell research but President Bush vetoed it 

This again happens in 2007 In 2009 President Barack Obama reversed the executive order from 2001 and issued an executive order titled Removing Barriers to Responsible Scientific Research Involving Human Stem Cells The most noteworthy court case regarding the government's funding of embryonic stem cell research is Sherley v Sebelius and was filed July 7th 2009 The people who brought the case on was a group of adult stem cell scientists James Sherley and Theresa Deisher filed a lawsuit against the National Institutes of Health and the Department of Health and Human Services arguing that federal funding of embryonic stem cells is violation the Dickey Wicker amendment At the time the U S Secretary of Health and Human services was Kathleen Sebelius and the case was filed against her The U S District court ruled in favor of Embryonic Stem Cell Research On August 23 2010 U S Federal District Court Judge Royce C Lamberth issued a temporary restraining order immediately prohibiting the NIH from further funding human embryonic stem cell hESC research Judge Lamberth s order came following a Federal Appeals Court decision giving Sherley and Deisher standing to bring their suit Judge Lamberth ruled that the plaintiffs were likely to win their case when it came to trial Association of American Medical Colleges 1