Question: how do you argue you side in using stem cells

Matthew Tomlinson answered on 15 Nov 2013:

For me it’s quite easy really, I use adult stem cells from the body of people who come into hospital to have teeth removed for dental reasons or who have had bone marrow taken out during surgery to fix broken bones. These people are asked beforehand if they are happy for their tissue to be used for research, if they say yes, great, if they say no it goes in the bin, no questions asked. So in that way there aren’t too many ethical problems, we have to make sure we know where people’s cells are but mostly we don’t have too many problems as these cells don’t come from embryos.

The major ethical questions are based around the use of embryonic stem cells. These are cells taken from embryos developed for IVF treatment and is a lot more controversial. I still think this research is very valuable and although there are questions I still think it is an ethical thing to do. The reason for this is that the cells come from an embryo of about 150 cells which I don’t think is alive yet because it hasn’t become conscious, which is roughly when I would say life starts. It is also going to end up being destroyed if it is not used for research, this is because for IVF treatment to have the best chance of success many embryos are created, but only a few are implanted. So any that aren’t used for IVF are either used for research or destroyed, and I think it is better to use it for something positive like research.

What are your thoughts on this issue?