1.  Ethics of Stem Cell Research Danielle Priestley John Nebbia Huy Lam Kihyun Lee

2. Overview of Stem Cells  Cell from the body with ability to reproduce into many other cells  Unspecialized  Creates over 200 cell types  Divisions of a stem cell can become a stem cell or a specialized cell  Replace old cells to repair parts of body  Can divide all the time or situationally  Can be found all over the body

3.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K7D6iA7bZG0 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K7D6iA7bZG0

4. Types of Stem Cells  Embryonic  5-14 day embryo  Cells are able to differentiate into ectoderm, mesoderm, and endoderm  Hematopoietic  Cord blood, fetal tissues, bone marrow, Adult stem cells  Able to produce many cell types and self-renew over a lifetime  Neural  Adult stem cells  Limited or no capacity of self-renewal

5. Growing Cells in a Lab  Cell are cultured  Must make sure they are, in fact, remaining stem cells  Can take months  Research in directed differentiation.  Harnessing the potential of stem cells by constraining differentiation in vitro toward tissues of interest  Variation of Medium  If cells are clumped they will differentiate spontaneously  Making a mass of cells (teratoma)

6. Stem Cell Concerns  Passing of viruses or other microscopic agents  Transplant drugs to clear immune system  Diseases from animals  Nutrients for stem cells are derived from animals which could carry diseases  Usually cultivated in laboratory  Uncontrolled growth  Leads to more of a concern with embryonic cells because they grow quickly and that it could result in tumors.  Misdirected growth  Differentiating into wrong type of tissue

7. How Stem Cells Can Be Used  Determine how development occurs in the body  New medications  Transplants  Growing organs for people in need  Type 1 diabetes (cells that produce insulin)  Cancer and birth defects: can they be avoided?  Cell division  Differentiation

8. How can stem cells be used  Known to have helped people with over 70 different diseases  Different results with different stem cells  Adult stem cells  Embryonic stem cells

9. Transplants  Grow cells in the lab from stem cells  Control them to differentiate into certain cell  Compatibility testing  Proper functioning in new body for rest of life  No harm to new body vs. Rejection of tissue

10. Stem Cells and Heart Disease  One of largest causes of death is Heart Diseases  Heart doesn’t get oxygen -> heart cells die -> bad things happen  Stem cells can replace dead heart cells  Currently being tested on animals  More research is needed before human trials begin

11. Ethical Issues  Living or not  “who or what”  Pre-implantation embryos  Is it right to make these embryos on purpose only for the stem cells?  Where are the restrictions drawn?  Spares from IVF  Intentional creation  Are you taking a potential life?

12. Ethical Issues  Embryos would be discarded anyways if not used for stem cells  May have a purpose and not discarded  Some don’t see a problem with making stem cells  No one is harmed  Turning life into a money game  If you are rich you can buy a new body part  Future

13. Social Issues  Feminists think that women are being used  “therapeutic cloning”  Genetically identical to individual offering stem cells  Think that therapeutic cloning will eventually lead to reproductive cloning (slippery slopes effect)  Religion: killing something that could become a living person  Therapeutic cloning: imitating the creation of life  When does life start? Catholic Church believes in life begins at conception

14.  Pope John Paul II wrote in his 1995 encyclical, The Gospel of Life, that “Human embryos obtained in vitro are human beings and are subjects with rights; their dignity and right to life must be respected from the first moment of their existence” Social Issues

15. Political Issues  Primary question was whether the federal government should fund research or not  In 2001, Senator Barrack Obama of Illinois voted for legislation that would have allowed federal funding for stem cell research using embryos slated to be discarded from fertility clinics.  President Bush vetoed the bill  Can be used for some lines that were already working  Limited numbers  Law protecting embryos so they aren’t destroyed  No law protecting pre-embryos (younger than 14 days)

16.  In 2009, President Barrack Obama lifts restriction ban on stem cell research  Polls indicated that people today have a better outlook and support on the research. More than half favored stem cell research than finding a method of preserving the embryos.  "We are committed to pursuing stem cell research quite responsibly, but we recognize there are a range of beliefs on this.“ –White House domestic policy adviser Political Issues

17. Work Cited  http://stemcells.nih.gov/info/basics/pages/basics1.aspx  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K7D6iA7bZG0 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K7D6iA7bZG0  http://www.explorestemcells.co.uk/concernsaboutstemcells.html  http://humrep.oxfordjournals.org/content/18/4/672.full  http://www.focusonthefamily.com/socialissues/life-issues/stem-cell-research/stem-cell- research-issue  http://www.icr.org/article/ten-problems-with-embryonic-stem-cell-research/ http://www.icr.org/article/ten-problems-with-embryonic-stem-cell-research/  http://www.pewforum.org/2008/07/17/stem-cell-research-at-the-crossroads-of-religion- and-politics/?beta=true&utm_expid=53098246-2.Lly4CFSVQG2lphsg- KopIg.1&utm_referrer=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.google.com%2F http://www.pewforum.org/2008/07/17/stem-cell-research-at-the-crossroads-of-religion- and-politics/?beta=true&utm_expid=53098246-2.Lly4CFSVQG2lphsg- KopIg.1&utm_referrer=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.google.com%2F  http://www.usnews.com/news/blogs/god-and-country/2009/03/09/the-politics-behind- obamas-embryonic-stem-cell-research-decision