• Question: Certain ethnic groups would believe this work to be unethical. To what extent do you agree with this, and do you believe that the benefits outweigh the cons?

    Asked by benjamix777 to Emma, James, Jayne, Kara, Sharon on 21 Mar 2011 in Categories: .
    • Photo: Emma King

      Emma King answered on 21 Mar 2011:

      Hi benjamix777, that’s a really important question. Yes certain groups do believe that some stem cell work is unethical – although I would probably refer to them as groups of a certain religious or moral viewpoint rather than ethnic groups.
      Mostly they disagree with the use of embryonic stem cells, which are taken from very early embryos. Often these people believe that these embryos are sacred and that we are destroying a life by using this tissue in research. In the UK we are also allowed to create embryos in the lab, so some of them believe that we are playing God by doing this.
      I believe that they are allowed to think this way but I don’t agree with them. Most of the embryos we use are surplus from IVF, so if they were not used in research to help develop therapies then they would be discarded – so I think it’s better not to waste this tissue. Also I believe if every embryo was previous in the eyes of God then why does nature destroy so many embryos?
      I think it’s a hard one to answer because people often will not listed to argument, but for me I don’t find research on embryos to be unethical.

    • Photo: Sharon Sneddon

      Sharon Sneddon answered on 21 Mar 2011:

      Hi Benjamix777,
      I think that all the work I do is very ethical, I certainly would not be comfortable doing anything I thought unethical.

      There are some people who don’t agree with it, sometimes this is due to ethnic or religious reasons, or just personal opinion. I think that all people are entitled to their opinion, infact, it’s quite good to have people who disagree as they often have good points that can make you think, and sometimes, by explaining what exactly we do, then they can change their minds.

      I believe that the benefits of stem cells therapies really outweigh the costs and scientists like me are working hard to try and make new stem cells without the ethical concerns, so trying to make embryonic stem cells without destryoing an embryo. Other ways include
      the use of induced pluripotent cells in which skin cells are made to revert back to embryonic like cells.

      Stem cell research raises a lot of ethical questions. Especially embryonic stem cells. Because we work with human eggs and embryos, these have the potential to become a human life so there are lots of things to think about before we carry out any experiments. We have to follow fules and regulations and ethics come into that, we work under a government body called the Human Embryology and Fertilisation Authority and they have lots of people working for them, from scientists, to doctors, to religious people to everyday people who are not scientists and they look at our exeriments and decide if we can carry them out. Once we have that permission, we then go to our University and hospital ethics committe to make sure they are hapy with what we are doing.

      My personal beliefs on stem cells are that they are a good thing. I think that anything that has the potential to help people from suffering illnesses like cancer or diabetes or parkinsons disease should be researched thoroughly to try and help as many people.

    • Photo: Jayne Charnock

      Jayne Charnock answered on 21 Mar 2011:

      Hi Ben,

      Thanks for your question.

      I think that its really important for scientists to constantly question the ethical issues surrounding their work, but we also have committees that decide whether or not the work is ethically acceptable and can go ahead or not. I find it really interesting to hear the view points of different ethical and religious groups, thats what makes the world an interesting place! I dont believe stem cell research is unethical though, i think it is an opportunity to help millions of people and understand more about our amazing bodies.

      What are your thoughts on the subject?

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