Stem cell research

[reaper]

This is a pretty touchy subject but an important one.

My self I am all for it. Because ultimately it could become a cure for almost every thing from a missing tooth to a failing heart. The applications for it are almost limitless.

What are your thoughts?

[Tobias]

i agree with you reaper. I personaly think that stem cell research is something that can be used to help save the world of almost any kind of disease. Yet there is only one problem: dem bastards that want to make children out of this.

But seriously, i think i even calculated how to grow back a human limb using stem cells! They can virtually be used to repair any kind of tissue, regardles! So you have my view.

PS: Just to let ya guys know, this was the part of Biology that i actualy did like

That is all

[Ming]

This is a highly controversial topic. I'm not sure if I'm necessarily for or against it though. I know that there are some fantastic applications of it, in that it can be used to cure things, etc. I also know that there is some huge ethical debate about it. At first I thought that it was because it would be, in effect, "killing" something in order to get the stem cells, but then Tobs and I were talking and he mentioned something about people wanting to clone with it. Or maybe I'm off totally.

At any rate, I think that many things in the world have to be looked upon with a utilitarian perspective. While there may be some inherent harm done in whatever the action taken is, the overall good that comes in the end is moreso than the harm done, thereby justifying the action. This issue is something that I think has to be looked at this way. It seems to me, regardless of the negative ethical ramifications, that we will only bring about a greater good in the end, as a result.

That said, can anyone actually clarify for me what exactly the ethical issues at stake are in this argument? Thanks!

~Ming

[Reverend]

Specifically, either the cloning of fetus's to get to the stem cells before they specialize, or use aborted/ undeveloped invetro eggs to harvest stem cells for use

Two touchy subjects in one!

[Excel Zero]

Wow I thought I'd be unpopular in this one. I am totally for...maybe it's cuz I want to be a doctor though

nice argument

[Therin]

Organ Farming. That is one of the issues. There are two views, to my knowledge, on organ farming:

The first: Organ Farming is the extension of life through the slaughter of innocent people.

The second: Organ Farming is the solution for pretty much all of our terminal diseases today. Cancer of the liver? Get a new liver. Cancer of the lungs? Get new lungs! You're fine!

There are cohesive arguments on both sides, but mostly both depend on how you see a clone: Is a clone a legitimate human being, or is a clone just a complex doll? Each of these views spawns a whole host of other questions, but basically, that is the choice that is made.

My view: Yes, a clone is a legitimate human being, for the same reason that african americans are legitimate human beings, although many once claimed that they were not: They're made of the same stuff as the rest of us. Where they came from doesn't matter. Would I kill another man so that I might live longer? No. I think that organ farming is ethically wrong, and should not be condoned under any circumstances. I think that if you are destined to live, you will live, that if you are destined to die, you will die. Medical science, for all its brilliance, will only ease your passage through this life. It will not lengthen it, nor will it shorten it. I do not think that organ farming is a threat to this belief, but from this belief, I feel it is a pointless waste of life to kill another man because it won't change your destiny one iota. If you were meant to live, you'll live. If not, you won't. Every medical advance that could possibly be imagined won't change that.


Before you flame me for offending your beliefs, I mean no offense to anyone. This is simply an expression of the way I see things. You won't change it, not with all the logic or emotion in the world, just as I will never change yours. Someone once said that truth is subjective. In this case, that is true. Beliefs that you take for granted as the truest thing ever said are called out as lies by others. That's just the world we live in. It doesn't mean you're wrong, nor does it mean that they are right. It simply means that you think differently, and that is something that you should take pride in. But don't take it too far. Remember the crusades. Remember the holocaust. That is what happens when people attempt to force their truths on someone else. Respect my right to believe, and to express my beliefs, and do not try to change them, and I shall do the same for you.

[reaper]

Ok fair enough, but this is a debate after all so you can’t deny me the right to respond but I don’t think any one has any intention of flaming any one.

They are not really talking about making a clone, they just take the cell before it has developed and change it to grow into a liver, or anything else. I guess it all comes down to when something is alive, and what is alive.

[Therin]

Well, I have to ask. If we hadn't advanced medical science to the point that we have, can you say with certainty that we would not have still lengthened our lives? Medical science is a form of adaptation. If we hadn't created that, we would have adapted in another way. We are destined for an increase in lifespan, or so it seems currently.

[Faye]

Hey hey hey hey hey hey hey..... I think we are getting a little off topic. Pesonally I dont belive in destiny because I dont like to think I am not in control of my own life. But thats not what this thread is about...... its about stem cell research and now it is time for my 2 cents on that.

As far is cloning human beings goes and am completly and 100% against. However stem cell research, last time I checked, is not about cloning humans.... its about making individual organs and no a liver, by itself, is not alive so if it can be made and if it can save some ones life, then yes it should be done. Because all human life is precious. Sorry if I sound a little Hypoctitical but thats just how i feel.

Peace Out!

PS General, someone could argue that it is our "destiny" to extend our lives via the use of Organ Farming or Stem cells.

[Therin]

I agree completely, with regard to the creation of lone organs. It's when we get to cloning that I begin to have a problem with it.

PS: And, again, I feel that if it is our destiny to extend our lives, then we will. But, again, I feel that there are other ways to do that.