What Are the Possibilities?

For my fourth post, I decided to somewhat compare two articles, one being from Time Magazine, written by Alice Park, about the benefits of stem cells in curing diseases. The other article, titled: “The Science and Ethics of Induced Pluripotency: What Will Become of Embryonic Stem Cells?”, written by David Zacharias and Timothy Nelson, discussed new concerns related to how embryonic stem research could progress.

The Time Magazine article explains just how stem cells are transforming the ways in which we will treat diseases as well as how we age. (This is a regenerative use I never came across in other sources regarding stem cells). Nonetheless, the article goes on to emphasize that disease doesn’t have to be mysterious anymore with this new technology at our fingertips; instead, as a society, we should be supporting stem cell research as much as possible. Diseases related to brain cell, liver cell, heart cell, and nerve cell damage, are mentioned as being the most curable, using embryonic stem cells. This article doesn’t weigh into any issues surrounding this research, just more of a personal opinion on the potentials of it.

                                http://www.time.com/time/covers/0,16641,20060807,00.html

The second article, “The Science and Ethics of Induced Pluripotency: What Will Become of Embryonic Stem Cells?” depicts just how beneficial embryonic stem cells may or may not be as we come closer to new advancements in regenerative technology.  There have been promising results in the treatment of Parkinson disease, spinal injuries, type 1 diabetes and cardiovascular disease using embryonic stem cells. The article acknowledges that the potential uses of stem cells, especially embryonic, have not yet been realized. This article also discussed how experts must compare the social, legal, scientific, and medical pros and cons, regarding stem cells as well.  

The tone of the Time Magazine article, compared to the other source, had much more of a biased tone. All of the EBSCOhost sources draw out just how embryonic stem cells work, their potential for curing diseases, and the controversies that go along with this research. However they let the reader come to their own conclusions about this issue, instead of trying to sway them one way or the other, like I felt the Time Magazine article did. They are less opinion based and more academically supported. That’s not to say the Time article was not a good source, because it did justice in giving more insight on this topic, yet opinions were still able to make their way into the writing. I feel the article written by Zacharias has a lot of optimism incorporated, from a research standpoint, in just how far this new form of medicine can go if given the chance. Park’s article on the other hand, seems to be driven by a personal “hype” over the disease curing potentials of this new medicine. I think this is something that should be avoided so that limitations, at this point, are not overlooked and achievable goals are in place before moving forward.

Although I do believe that research in this area should be done in order to pursue curing many diseases, I think only time will tell in just how successful this new form of medicine will be. I also must agree with Zacharias when he says “ethicality of embryo destruction appears unlikely.” I feel like a broken record when I say that the ethics concerning this topic are inconclusive and it is hard to say if embryonic stem cell research will ever be socially accepted. However I feel that by shedding a light on medical, legal and social benefits, we will see much more acceptance in the advancement of regenerative medicine.

Works Cited

C. Christopher Hook, et al. "The Science And Ethics Of Induced Pluripotency: What Will Become Of Embryonic Stem Cells?." Mayo Clinic Proceedings 86.7 (2011): 634-640. Academic Search Premier. Web. 17 July 2012.

Park, Alice. "How Stem Cells Are Changing the Way We Think About Disease - 10 Ideas That Will Change the World - TIME." Breaking News, Analysis, Politics, Blogs, News Photos, Video, Tech Reviews - TIME.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 17 July 2012. <http://www.time.com/time/specials/packages/article/>