Should taxpayer money go to embryonic stem cell research?

The "embryonic" part is the most controversial and reason why most people are opposed to it. However, some could argue that it's morally wrong to stop research, as it could potentially cure much of what ails us today. Thankfully, scientists have been working on removing the "embryonic" part from Stem Cell research, and lo and behold, look what scientists did.

flickr.com/photos/33749589@N07/3335224295/ --Quote-- The end of the politically explosive, decadelong ethical battle over human embryonic stem cells may finally be in sight. Two groups of researchers report today that washing human skin cells in similar cocktails of four genes enabled them to reprogram the cells to resemble those harvested from embryos. The finding potentially paves the way for scores of labs to generate new stem cell lines without cloned embryos, which had long been considered the only realistic way of making human stem cells in the short run.

--/quote-- sciam.com/article.cfm?id=human-stem-cell... flickr.com/photos/33749589@N07/3335225923/ nytimes.com/2007/11/21/science/21stem.html Science takes time, but I think this research is vital, important and without a doubt will progress our society. I do think the government should fund it, because privately you can't regulate it and all the best scientists could wind up working for some crazy Chinese or German company who will do - God knows what - with their research.

Yes. The number one reason is: Because if it is only funded by private companies it will much harder to regulate. Would you care to cite your sources regarding embryonic vs adult stem cells advances?

How do you asses what is successful and what is not at such short time? Do you realize that without embryonic stem cell research, very few (if none) researchers would have tried to isolate adult stem cells? Not even the experts can anticipate what will come out from basic research, sometimes it is good and some other times it is bad.

Now, if your concern is taxes, well... I guess you haven't met a tax payer who is against wars.

Yes. First, I am going to disagree with your statement that most Americans oppose it. According to a poll done by the Washington Post, 68% supported embryonic stem cell research.

washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/politics/polls... Another poll by CBS shows the same thing, with 58% supporting it. cbsnews.com/stories/2005/05/24/opinion/p... Another by ABC says 63% support it abcnews.go.com/sections/politics/dailyne..." rel="nofollow">abcnews.go.com/sections/politics/dailyne... We are not talking about destroying a baby. Stem cells are taken from embryos before they are implanted into the womb.

These "babies" are no more than a mass of cells. I don't see the need for preserving "potential" lives at the cost of millions of actual ones. abcnews.go.com/sections/politics/dailyne..." rel="nofollow">abcnews.go.com/sections/politics/dailyne....

First of all, you can't criticize a lack of advances in a field of research that it was ILLEGAL to federally fund! That's absurd. Secondly, scientific consensus is generally that embryonic stem cells have a lot more potential than adult stem cells.

And even if it wasn't, there is absolutely no reason not to try; see below. Thirdly, why doesn't anyone realize nothing is lost in this research? The embryos for this research can be plentifully had from in-vitro fertilization rejects (you know, all the embryos that 'don't make the cut' when a couple who's having trouble conceiving go the in-vitro route).

These are embryos that, if not used for research, literally GO IN THE GARBAGE. If less people would buy into the insane delusion that embryonic stem cell research entails getting women pregnant on purpose just to abort and then do research on the embryo, they'd make much more educated decisions about this. It takes a lot of tries to create a viable embryo for in-vitro fertilization.

Why would anyone in their right mind be against doing research with amazing potential on the failed embryos that were just going to be thrown in the trash anyway? This is literally trash-to-treasure we are talking about here, and yet people are against it.

The "embryonic" part is the most controversial and reason why most people are opposed to it. However, some could argue that it's morally wrong to stop research, as it could potentially cure much of what ails us today. Thankfully, scientists have been working on removing the "embryonic" part from Stem Cell research, and lo and behold, look what scientists did.

More.

I cant really gove you an answer,but what I can give you is a way to a solution, that is you have to find the anglde that you relate to or peaks your interest. A good paper is one that people get drawn into because it reaches them ln some way.As for me WW11 to me, I think of the holocaust and the effect it had on the survivors, their families and those who stood by and did nothing until it was too late.