Cinthia+Vasconcelos

** - The New Era - ** Imagine one day desperately needing an organ. Imagine your fate was in the hands of a generous donator and a never ending waiting list. Just Imagine. Isn’t there another way? Yes. By allowing stem cell research we can discover new cures and demolish deadly diseases such as cancer, diabetes and even blindness. A whole new chain of endless possibilities twirling around us, waiting to be explored! The future generations will be able to live longer and age healthier! Without a doubt, stem cell research represents today what the Penicillin signified in 1928. It’s the fundamental key to medical revolution. There are two known types of stem cells, embryonic and adult. The embryonic stem cells produced after fertilization can effectively renovate and develop into any type of cells in the human body, since they aren’t specified yet. The adult stem cells are mainly found in the blood. They can renovate and develop into a specific range of cells. The main objective of stem cell research is to comprehend the capability of renovation and development of stem cells and its application into medicine. Scientists believe by studying stem cells they will discover new remedies for countless diseases such as brain damage, cardiac failure, muscle injuries, ALS, Huntington’s and Parkinson’s disease. According to the scientists stem cell research has an immense medical potential. We mustn’t waist time for this essential medical advance. Some opponents actually believe stem cell research devalues human life because a fraction of the research may involve cloning embryos. They imagine this as an inhumane procedure, but the utilized embryos are extracted from IVF (in vitro fertilization, aka test tube babies), which is approved by the donator. If the embryos weren’t used they would probably be destroyed or frozen and stored for numerous years. Plus, there is a much greater destruction to embryos because of conception issues and contraception processes. Others dispute stem cell research is fundamentally killing innocent unborn human babies. It’s not evidently ethical to kill living human cells, conscious or not. The question is: when the embryo becomes conscious? Scientists aren’t killing a human on purpose like in an abortion, which in that case the baby is already conscious with a heart! Other investigations are being done that demonstrates how stem cell research can be conducted without killing the embryo. Adult stem cells come from the blood, so in that way the scientists aren’t just using embryos. Stem cell research is clearly purposed for finding cures for a better future. Regulations are being developed to avoid mad evil scientists creating some sort of monstrous Frankenstein. Religion has been playing a major role against the stem cell research advance. The Roman Catholics believe the person’s soul enters the body as soon as the egg is fertilized. So they believe it’s against God’s will to take human embryos for scientific experiments, even though they might be for a good cause. The Roman Catholics have even stated that cloned embryos have no soul since it has been created with no love and out of God’s wills. There must be a mid-ground to keep the research and save millions of lives and not violate God’s commandments. Since God is above all, then he must have allowed the scientists to discover this new path. Conversely, some people argue that stem cell scientists only promise these cures, but never demonstrate any full proof results. What theses people need to understand is the stem cell research is a continuous long term project, and therefore will take some time to develop. There have been astonishing results found already, scientists have managed to take bone marrow from inside a patient’s body (someone who has had a heart attack) and from the bone marrow they can find the stem cells with the capacity to regenerate the heart. They put the stem cells back into the blood stream and the stem cells travel through the blood stream searching for damaged heart muscles. If the stem cells detect any damaged heart muscles, they can get out of the blood stream and regenerate the damaged heart muscles! We are getting 85% of heart recovery after major heart attacks in clinical trials. This was science fiction just three years ago and now is possible, thanks to stem cell research. Obviously, for stem cell research the risks of human devaluation and termination underweight the fact that cures and remedies for an innumerable amount of diseases will be found. The next generations won’t have to cry the death of their friends and relatives because of cancer or diabetes or cardiac failure, like many of us today have. Isn’t that what we all dream of? Well now it can finally become a reality! Stem cells will or better yet, are transforming a superior world for a better tomorrow and taking us to a brand new era.
 * Disease Free Future?! **