Why Are Stem Cells Controversial

Although stem cells transplant are a controversial topic around the world, it seems that they are still very far away from ordinary people. What are stem cells? How can we get stem cells? How can we use them? What are they applied for? Why are they worth debating? Together, we have a look at this novel stuff to know why it is so promising as well as debatable.

Stem cells have the great potential to differentiate into many different cell types in the body. They can serve as a sort of internal repair system that can be applied to replenish other cells as long as the person or animal is still alive.

There are many types of stem cells, say, adult stem cells, umbilical cords stem cells, embryonic stem cells, etc. They can be extracted from the existing organs in human body, and from skins or bone marrows; or they can be cultivated based on technical conduct in laboratory (embryonic stem cells mainly).

At present, stem cells have been used in many fields especially in the medical treatment of some disease, including heart disease, Parkinson's disease, Birth Defects, Repair Damaged Organs, cancer, etc. Many clinical practices have proven that stem cells are really of helpfulness in medical field to some extent. Therefore we can state that as: It could lead humanity closer to better treatment and possibly cure a number of diseases.

Now, you may want to ask, now that stem cells are so useful, it should be applied with no hesitation. Why is there much debate on them, or why are they worth discussing?

To know this, we would rather get some knowledge on the current pros and cons regarding stem cells (especially their extraction and application) at first.

Nowadays, there were two main issues concerning stem cell research with both pros and cons:

●How the knowledge will be used.

●Concerns about the methods.

Up to the recent years, the second problem (research methods) mainly focused on Embryonic Stem Cells which are developed from a female egg after it is fertilized by sperm, bringing about controversial ideas all over the world. However, researchers have found another method which is called Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells (iPS) to be an alternative method in obtaining embryonic stem cells. iPS are artificially derived from a non-pluripotent cell, such as adult somatic cells. It is really a fabulous advancement about stem cells.

Consequently, the first problem, say, the application of stem cells are at the top of the debatable list. Cons say that in the world there really exist some terrible problems which are related to advanced technology, such as the application of nuclear, i.e. Nuclear weapens. They are afraid that the same thing will go for stem cells, and technology should not mess with human life; also, human can not try to play a God. Some still argue that stem cell research in the far future can lead to knowledge on how to clone humans. Based on the aforementioned items, we can see that there are many debates on stem cells especially when regarding their applications.

The stem cells research is a cost-benefit analysis in ethics. Nevertheless, when they are used only in the medical field, the benefits certainly overweigh the costs. Here we can have an illustration of the application in Shijiazhuang Kidney Disease Hospital as follows:

The first debatable idea is: It was a matter of life, which deserves a second thought. The stem cells in Shijiazhuang Kidney Disease Hospital are extracted only from umbilical cord blood and some related tissues. Cord blood is previously regarded as medical waste left after childbirth, and it isn't a result of dead life. Also, Cord-blood cell transplants are already becoming common as a therapy for diseases of the blood all over the world.

The second concern about stem cells is: At the time we did not know whether the research was necessary and sufficient to give us the mentioned health benefits. In fact, hundreds of thousands clinical practices have been conducted with stem cells, and only in Shijiazhuang Kidney Disease Hospital, the successful rate is satisfying. There are so many people in China and the clinical cases are much more accordingly. The skills in conducting are in the leading position in the field of stem cells transplant around the world.

The third discussing problem is: The other consequences of the research are uncertain. In Shijiazhuang Kidney Disease Hospital, we only apply the umbilical cord stem cells for the treatment of kidney diseases and some other diseases such as Diabetes Mellitus and tumour. There is no relationship with the embryonic stem cells which may lead to controversial topic. All our technology and lab cultivation are only concerning about the treatment of kidney disease and are aimed at remitting the sufferings of some possibly curable diseases.

Human beings must consider whether the positive effects from the related research on stem cells is likely to be significantly higher than the negative effects. we have much confidence on our technology of stem cells research and clinical application according to so many successful cases conducted here. Meanwhile, as far as the umbilical cord stem cells used in Shijiazhuang Kidney Disease Hospital are concerned, benefits obviously overweigh the costs, and what the researchers are doing and hope to do is to save more lives and at least to effectively remit the agony that diseases bring.